Follow
Share

Mom is in NH on Medicaid. Mom is still on mortgage for our house. New money coming. I need to use some or will lose house. Can I repay later, or can they force sale upon her death? I cannot claim farm or disability hardship. I was able to get a loan modification, which helped, but not enough. I don't care if they put a lien on the house. I just need a place to live. Moving will put me in drug neighborhood but Medicaid won't see that as a legit hardship.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
Let me see if I can understand the situation.

Your mother is a co-mortgagor (co-borrower) with you (and someone else??) for the loan on your house.

Who holds title to the house? Is it held jointly between you, DH and your mother? Or do you hold title as sole owner?

I see 2 possibilities: you own the house, your mother guaranteed, but did not execute the mortgage or mortgage note.

Or: you, your mother and possibly someone else hold title jointly and each of you signed the mortgage.

What is the "new money" and when is it expected?

I'm going to pass on the other Medicaid specific questions because I'm not that knowledgeable on that subject.

But what I don't understand is whether your mother is a fee holder as well or has just co-signed your mortgage. There's a big difference.

In the meantime, if despite the loan modification it is still difficult to maintain payments on the house, have you investigated moving to subsidized housing? Maybe an apartment, although sometimes apartment rentals are higher than mortgage payments.

During the recession, borrowers whose homes were in the process of foreclosure were provided lists of counseling agencies that might be able to offer assistance, including with loan modifications. Perhaps you could seek the help of an agency like that.

Another alternative, which isn't particularly desirable, but I've done it when I had to, and that's to work 2 jobs.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

GA all very good questions, I will add a few:

Where did mom reside prior to nursing home?
What are her conditions that require nursing level care?
If with you did you provide medically necessary care that could be documented with doctor verification?
If so, how long did you provide the care?
Have you met with an elder law attorney to discuss available options?

I am not trying to be intrusive. If you provided care for her in the home keeping her off Medicaid recovery may not apply.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

You need to talk with an elder law attorney. Depending on Medicaid rules in your state you should be able to keep the house. Since mom is on the mortgage an attorney can advise you beston how to deal with this. Make sure the attorney is NAELA certified as they are expertsin these issues.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Jab, you need to consult a lawyer quick. Depending on how you structured taking your mom off the deed, it may or may not protect your Mom or her estate from being being pursued by debtors. Real estate law is very tricky and varies state by state. Banks and other creditors can file a lien on property if they have an unsatisfied debt (especially house, if your mom is on loan and you quit paying on loan, yes they can start proceedings to foreclose). Creditors can pursue you personally if you co-signed on any credit cards with Mom. Please check into this before it gets more snarled with someone experienced in your state's statute of limitations on debts, real estate transfers, etc. Courts really look down on people transferring property to relatives to avoid credit card debt or Medicaid recovery. The look back is now 5 years in most places for Medicaid.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Jab - you have been given some really good & precise advise.

I'd suggest you find your mortgage agreement pronto. Read to see how name changes affect the agreement and how you are to notify the mortgage holder. As others have said, you cannot just take moms name off property & add on hubs. Doing this voids the mortgage agreement - which is an enforceable obligation - and the mortgage holder can call in the mortgage in full usually with 30 days to pay off.

I bet you did a quit claim on this, right? A quit claim doesn't mean squat as neither mom nor you own the property to be able do this if there's a mortgage. You are selling something you do not own.

Quit claim deeds can be a hot mess to deal with as there is never ever a guarantee of ownership with a QCD. Only a warranty deed does that and you would need to file the Release of Deed of Trust at the courthouse once the mortgage is paid off to show true ownership with no obligations. QCD - also since no guarantee - can require a quiet title action to be done in order to ever sell the property in the future if the future buyer needs a mortgage (like the mortgage provider won't underwrite as no ownership established) OR if you ever need to use property as collateral (again lender won't underwrite). For more fun in this, quiet title action can take anywhere from 2 to maybe 6 months to do due to legal notices (usually a summons) appearing in newspaper & need exoerienced real estate legal to deal with the process.

QCD do work well when couples are divorcing and 1 gets the house and the other QCD their share, but this is wrapped within the divorce legal so there's a judges signature.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

Also, she will go off Medicaid when the inheritance comes. She will have to private pay at NH and then go back on Medicaid if she outlives her money. There will be a penalty period of ineligibility to budget for, but it's the repayment of her pre-inheritance care that I'm trying to plan for.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Elder Law Atty will only answer the questions i can think of to ask. He did say that putting money into an annuity to pay for NH would help keep monthly rate same as Medicaid rate rather than increasing to private pay rate. This would help make money last longer.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Medicaid permits home ownership. What if she paid off the house, then gifted to you for her care? There has to be a way to do this since you provide four years of care. Go to the website AVVO to ask some initial questions of attorneys in your area at no charge. Maybe you can find one that is NAELA certified at the same time.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

I believe that if you put the funds into an annuity in your mother's name, a penalty might be incurred if the funds are withdrawn early. My attorney told us that annuities are not wise investments for older people because the people sometimes die during the period in which penalties are incurred for withdrawal.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Talk to a Lawyer now. If house is not in her name and you use Mom's money for Your benefit ie pament on house you have 100% interest on and not Mom's care, that is gifting. She is not on house, only on mortgage? the money will be traceable and questions will come up. If you cannot afford house mortgage without her money and have already done loan mod, you need to consider short sale or default unless lawyer has another idea.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

See All Answers
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter