Polaris Estate Planning & Elder Law

09/27/2026

Qualifying for long-term care Medicaid in Missouri means clearing three separate hurdles: a medical level-of-care requirement, an income test, and a separate asset test, all under a specific track with its own rules.
If assets run over the limit, that's not automatically the end of the road. Missouri's spend-down program can still open eligibility.

We broke down the full process, step by step:

Qualifying for long-term care Medicaid in Missouri means clearing a separate income test, asset test, and level-of-care requirement. What the process actually involves, step by step.

09/25/2026

Accounts with a named beneficiary generally skip probate entirely in Missouri, but there are real exceptions. If your beneficiary dies before you, was not a lineal descendant, and no backup was named, the account can end up in probate anyway. And a beneficiary designation always overrides what your will says, even if it's years out of date.

We broke down how these accounts actually work, and what to check on your own: https://polarisplans.com/do-accounts-with-beneficiaries-go-through-probate/

09/21/2026

Your estate plan reflects your life at the moment you signed it. If you've gotten married, divorced, had a grandchild, bought or sold property, or moved to a new state since then, it's worth a real review, not just a mental note for later.
We put together the specific life events that should trigger an update, and what a review usually involves: https://polarisplans.com/when-to-update-your-estate-plan/

09/12/2026

Missouri gives you several real tools to avoid probate: a living trust, joint ownership with survivorship rights, beneficiary designations, and beneficiary deeds. Used well and coordinated together, a family can avoid probate court entirely.
The most common mistake isn't picking the wrong tool. It's using one tool well and leaving everything else uncoordinated.

We broke down what actually works: https://polarisplans.com/how-to-avoid-probate-in-missouri/

09/10/2026

Missouri calls it a beneficiary deed, but most people search for it as a transfer on death deed. It lets your home pass directly to someone you name, without probate, while you keep full control during your life.

It's a genuinely useful tool, but it only covers the one property it's attached to, and it needs to be coordinated with the rest of your plan or it can create problems of its own.
We broke down how it works and where it fits into a full plan: https://polarisplans.com/transfer-on-death-deed-missouri/

09/08/2026

"Can Medicaid take my parent's house?" Not while they're alive, in most cases, and not automatically after they pass away either. Missouri has mandatory protections for a surviving spouse and certain children, and how a home is titled has a real effect on whether it's reachable through estate recovery.
We broke down what actually happens, and what protects a family's home: https://polarisplans.com/can-medicaid-take-your-house-in-missouri/

09/02/2026

Signing your trust and funding it are two different things. Signing creates the trust. Asset integration, retitling your home, your accounts, everything you own, into the trust's name, is what actually makes it work.
Skip that step, and the trust does not do what it was created to do.

We broke down exactly what asset integration involves, asset by asset:

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisements. Some cases may be referred to co-counsel depending on the nature and venue of a particular case.

08/31/2026

"What's the Medicaid income limit in Missouri?" It depends which program you mean. Nursing home Medicaid has its own income limit, generally around $2,900 to $3,000 a month, but Missouri also allows a spend-down option if income runs higher, and there are real protections for a spouse who continues living at home.

If your parent is already in a facility and the numbers seem too high, it's usually not the end of the road. Crisis Medicaid planning has its own tools too.

We broke down how the numbers actually work together: https://polarisplans.com/missouri-medicaid-income-limits/

08/28/2026

Creating a living trust in Missouri isn't just drafting a document. It's four steps: designing it around your family, signing it in front of a notary, pairing it with a pour-over will and powers of attorney, and funding it, actually retitling your accounts and property into the trust's name.

That last step is the one almost everyone underestimates, and it's the difference between a trust that works and an expensive document that doesn't.

We broke down the full process: https://polarisplans.com/how-to-create-a-living-trust-in-missouri/

08/26/2026

A BIG Thank You to our clients Maria and Ken for being kind enough to share their experience at our Annual Client Meeting earlier this summer.