Medicaid Planning Attorney Serving the DMV
Thienel Law helps families across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia plan for long-term care and qualify for Medicaid without spending down everything. Free consultation.
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Thienel Law helps families in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia plan ahead for the cost of long-term care and keep more of what they own while qualifying for Medicaid. Because Stephen Thienel holds an LL.M. in Taxation and prepares returns in-house, the tax side of every transfer is weighed by the same attorney who builds your plan.
Medicaid planning is the legal work of arranging your income and assets, in advance and within the rules, so that long-term care does not consume everything you have built. A single year in a nursing facility can cost more than many families save in a decade, and Medicaid is the main program that pays for that care once savings run low. This planning matters most for older adults, for the spouse of someone entering care, and for the adult child helping a parent across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. Done early, it can protect a home, a spouse, and an inheritance; done late, the options narrow. Medicaid planning sits inside a broader elder law practice, next to powers of attorney and long-term care planning.
What is Medicaid planning, and who needs it?
Medicaid planning is the process of legally structuring your finances so you can qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage while keeping as much as the rules allow. It works with the program’s countable-asset limits, income rules, five-year look-back, and spousal protections rather than against them.
It is not only for people already in a nursing home. The families who benefit most include a healthy couple planning early, a spouse whose partner is entering memory care, an adult child managing a parent’s finances under a power of attorney, and anyone who has moved between Maryland, D.C., and Virginia.
What happens if you wait to plan for long-term care?
Long-term care is one of the largest expenses most families face, and Medicaid pays for it only after your countable assets fall below a strict limit. Families who wait often spend down a lifetime of savings first.
Two federal rules make timing critical. Under federal Medicaid transfer rules, gifts or transfers for less than fair market value made within five years before you apply can create a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for your care. And after a person who received long-term care dies, the state must try to recover what it paid from that person’s estate, which often means the home. Planning ahead is what turns these rules from a trap into a strategy.
What does Medicaid planning with Thienel Law include?
Thienel Law builds a plan around your income, your assets, and your family, not a form.
- A review of your income, assets, home, and family against the countable-asset and transfer rules that apply where you live.
- A written plan that sequences any gifts, trusts, or spend-down steps around the five-year look-back rather than into it.
- Coordination of spousal protections so the spouse who stays home keeps a protected share of assets and income.
- Alignment with your estate plan, so your will, trusts, and beneficiary designations do not quietly undo the Medicaid strategy.
- The tax analysis that gifts and transfers trigger, handled in-house by the same attorney, including gift reporting, capital-gains basis, and income effects.
- Guidance for a spouse or adult child acting under a power of attorney, so they can act without breaking eligibility.
- Help assembling and organizing the application and the documentation the state program requires.
What is it like to plan for Medicaid with Steve?
Every engagement starts with a free 30-minute consultation. It is a fit conversation for people who are ready to hire an elder law attorney: you describe your family, your assets, and where care stands, and you and Steve decide together whether working with him makes sense. It is not a strategy session, and no plan is built in that half hour.
From there you work directly with Stephen Thienel, not a rotating team. The practice runs online, with secure video meetings, shared document folders, and electronic signatures, so you can plan from home or from a parent’s bedside anywhere in the DMV.
How does Medicaid planning differ in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia?
The core rules are federal, so the five-year look-back, the transfer penalty, spousal protections, and estate recovery work the same way in all three jurisdictions. What changes is who administers the program and the specific figures, which each program updates every year.
Maryland Medicaid, also called Medical Assistance, is run by the Maryland Department of Health. In the District, the Department of Health Care Finance administers Medicaid and its long-term care programs. Virginia Medicaid, now branded Cardinal Care, is run by the Department of Medical Assistance Services. Each sets its own asset and income figures, its own penalty calculation, and its own home-care waiver programs, so a plan built for one state does not automatically carry to another.
This is where being licensed in all three matters. Because Stephen Thienel practices across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia, one attorney can build a plan that holds up in the state where you apply, even when you own a home in one jurisdiction and have a parent in another.
Where does Medicaid planning fit with your other planning?
Medicaid planning works best woven into the elder law and estate documents around it.
What clients say about working with Steve
I have worked with Steve Thienel for more than 20 years now and the experience has been amazing. Steve and his team are very thorough, they review all sides of a situation, and are very measured in how they approach a solution. They are 100% client focused and a pleasure to work with!
Throughout years, Steve has been my go to guy for business, real estate, and legal work. Steve works fast and is highly reliable. I would recommend Steve to anyone.
Received expert advice including options when applicable. Filings were timely and I was kept informed each step of the way. First class service!!!
I have been receiving services from Mr. Thienel for over 15 years. I have found his legal services to be of exceptionally high value and quality. His services are always timely, professional and thorough!
Reviews are published as given. Thienel Law does not offer compensation for reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What is Medicaid planning?
Medicaid planning is arranging your income and assets, legally and in advance, so you can qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage while keeping as much as the rules allow. It works with the program's asset limits, five-year look-back, spousal protections, and estate recovery rules. Thienel Law does this planning for families across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia, with the tax effects handled in-house.
What is the Medicaid five-year look-back?
The look-back is the window Medicaid reviews when you apply for long-term care coverage. Under federal law, the state examines asset transfers made in the five years before your application, and gifts or transfers for less than fair market value during that window can create a penalty period when Medicaid will not pay for care. Planning before that window is what keeps transfers from causing a penalty.
Can I give away money to qualify for Medicaid?
Not freely, and not at the last minute. Transfers for less than fair market value within the five-year look-back can trigger a penalty period of ineligibility. There are lawful ways to use gifts, trusts, and spend-down, but they have to be planned around the rules and timed correctly, which is the core of what a Medicaid planning attorney does.
Will Medicaid take my house?
Not while you are alive, and often not while a spouse or certain dependents remain. Federal law requires each state to recover what it paid for long-term care from the estate of a recipient who was 55 or older, and the home is frequently the main asset. Recovery is deferred while a surviving spouse lives, or while a child under 21 or a blind or disabled child survives, and hardship waivers exist. Planning can reduce that exposure.
Does Medicaid planning protect my spouse?
Yes. Federal spousal-impoverishment rules let the spouse who stays home keep a protected share of the couple's assets and a minimum level of monthly income, instead of spending down everything before the other spouse qualifies. A Medicaid plan coordinates those protections with your estate plan so the at-home spouse is not left short.
Do I need a Medicaid planning lawyer licensed in my state?
Yes, because each state runs its own Medicaid program. Maryland, D.C., and Virginia share the federal framework but set their own figures, penalty calculations, and home-care waiver programs. Stephen Thienel is licensed in all three, so he can plan for the state where you will apply and adjust the plan if you move across DMV lines.
Ready to protect what you have from the cost of care?
Stephen Thienel helps families across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia plan for long-term care and qualify for Medicaid without spending down everything, with the tax side handled by the same attorney. If you are ready to hire an elder law attorney, schedule a free 30-minute consultation and see whether the fit is right.
- Tell Steve about your matter
- Pick a time that works