Nightmare of not working with an expert 👻🎃

I have shared before that I love Halloween. The costumes, the decorations, the parties, the FUN. But not the scary, bloody and gory part. You can keep your horror movies and scary haunted houses, I’d like to keep sleeping at night. 

I am going to share some nightmarish situations that have happened with our office. They will not have happy endings. I want to be careful to not make light of unfortunate situations, but I do think it is important to share our experience.  

Joy Thomas with our office shared with me a conversation she had with someone that had chosen not to engage our services. This family had visited with us months ago about Medicaid planning.

For whatever reason, they decided to “go it on their own” with the Medicaid application. Then they ran into problems. The issue was they decided to work with someone who did not specialize in elder law and Medicaid. 

Unfortunately, they received some incorrect advice (from a professional even). Joy guided them through the problem as best as she could, but they really had a tough situation on their hands which was going to delay Medicaid eligibility.

The comment made to Joy was, “I wish we had went with you from the beginning.” 

This was a tough conversation for Joy and a terrible situation for the family. It is unfortunate that the system is so confusing and complicated. 

I really find it somewhat of a miracle if people are able to navigate the Medicaid rules, application process, piles of documents and get an approval successfully on their own. 

For anyone considering “going it on your own” it is worth speaking to an elder law attorney so you know what you are getting into. Wrong moves can result in spending THOUSANDS on care, which really is a nightmare.

Have you ever tried to “do it yourself” and then realized you should have brought in an expert?