half-a-loaf
n.— «If you already have a prepaid funeral, you would be able to do a “half-a-loaf.” The “half-a-loaf” is a method of gifting where you give away half of your assets and keep one-half to pay for the disqualification period for having given the other half away. Timing is critical in doing the “half-a-loaf” and if you wait too long, the only other option would be to give the proceeds to the nursing home.» —“Life Insurance and Medicaid” by Ronald H. Surabian Elder Law Center (Saugus, Massachusetts) Oct. 28, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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In this bonus A Way with Words minicast, Martha and Grant step into the historic streets of Marblehead, Massachusetts, where the simple cry of “Down bucket!” could serve as a kind of local password. After they ponder that and other...