St. Louis area attorney specializing in elder care law and estate planning. My practice's primary elder care focus is on asset protection against nursing home/skilled care costs and the qualification for long term care coverage, Medicaid, now known as the Missouri HealthNet program, while preserving assets to pass to heirs. I help clients in both the pre-need and crisis stages; that is, both healthy clients looking to pre-plan and clients in an immediate or near-immediate need for skilled care. I work with clients, and frequently, adult children of elderly clients, to make Medicaid applicants' countable assets into exempt assets, to the extent allowed by law, while navigating the complex framework of penalties and lookback periods. Particular focus is on protecting the client's home from Medicaid liens. Depending on a client's situation, marital status, and how early planning is started, it is possible to protect anywhere from 50% to as high as 90% or higher client assets from Medicaid and skilled care costs.

My practice also works with qualifying veterans for benefits available from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly the Aid and Attendance benefit, also known as the Improved Pension. This benefit can provide up to $27,000 per year to veterans or surviving spouses to pay for in-home medical care, and allows for the veteran to pay children or grandchildren to provide the care, which allows clients to stay at home longer and keep money in the family. The VA does have several requirements and conditions to obtain this benefit, and recently enacted both a three year lookback period and a penalty, both of which I work to avoid or minimize with proper planning. With extra planning, clients and pre-plan for both Medicaid and veterans benefits.

My practice also focuses on general estate planning, emphasizing non-probate transfers and asset management both during periods of incapacity and after passing, for clients who wish to place conditions on inheritance.

Specialties: Wills, trusts (living trusts and irrevocable trusts--both grantor and non-grantor), beneficiary deeds, durable powers of attorney for health care, health care directives, Medicaid-compliant trusts, VA-compliant trusts,, probate avoidance, LLC establishment and operating agreements.

Firm Description

Michael Benoist's practice focuses on estate planning and elder law in the St. Louis and St. Charles areas.

He works with clients consulting and drafing wills, living trusts, asset protection and irrevocable trusts, and powers of attorney documents, both for health care decisionmaking and financial decisionmaking. 

He also works with clients and their families regarding planning for long term care needs, particularly helping clients pre-plan and pre-qualify for Medicaid, now known as the Missouri HealthNet program.  This includes clients looking to pre-plan with several years expected before needing care as well as clients in a crisis situation, who are looking at the need for skilled care within a short period of time or even immediately, including clients already in a skilled care facility.  Clients at all stages of the elder law journey can discuss how to protect as much of their assets as is permitted and will receive advice in navigating the process of Medicaid compliance as time goes on, including the Medicaid application itself, relieving the client and client's family of the additional burden of filing forms and corresponding with the state.  Depending on the client's situation, large portions of assets can be protected from long term care costs, as well as preventing or minimzing penalty periods, to the extent possible.  For married clients, work can start on the spouse needing immediate care while, at the same time, start the planning for the healthy spouse for his or her care later on.  

Clients who are veterans can also be advised about the possibility of veterans benefits, including the Aid and Attendance program, which helps clients with in-home care, among other things, and helps keep clients at home and frequently keeps money in the family.  

Because many such clients are unable to leave their homes, he will make appointments to visit clients in their homes, saving them the trouble of travelling.  

He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Missouri National Academy of Elder Law attorneys, and is accredited by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to prepare veterans benefits claims.  

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