My dad and stepmom are in the same nursing home. I don't know if there is a will ? They are both mentally/physically incapacitated. Dementia him Schizophrenia with her. Should I get a lawyer to file petition in court ( and is this a Probate matter) for Emergency, Temporary Guardianship over my father to protect the families assets and property. I'm running out of time to get his affairs in order. I just assume both are intestate. I suspect my stepmom's kids and family of some degree of elder Abuse towards my dad. Financial extortion, neglect, etc. He signed off of their joint checking account. I can see a drastic change in the property and assets take place in the paper trail the in-laws left. They were isolating my dad and coaching his wife into protecting her and her children only. If there is a will. I suspect it is on the title or deed through the mortgage loan. I do know it is joint tenancy. Heirs 99. Upon death of spouse. Thing is his biological kids are omitted and have been shut out for over a year that they have been moving in. I want to protect my dad and advocate for him against the abuse he suffered. He said himself, they tricked me into this nursing home. Step mom sisters and kids.
How is their NH getting paid? There isn’t magical elves paying. NH isn’t blithely going along not getting paid. How is NH being paid?
MediCARE does NOT pay for room&board costs of a NH. NH is private pay, or LTC insurance, or Medicaid if they are impoverished & “at need” BOTH medically and financially. For a couple to be impoverished & be able to qualify for LTC Medicaid program it’s a maximum of $ 3,000.00 total in nonexempt assets for most States. Yep 3K. And almost ALL their mo income - like each of their Social Security $ - is required to go as a copay to the NH. They will have no - nada - zero $ anymore to ever pay the costs on their home.
If they have $ - which is sounds like they do - that $ is more than likely paying for the NH. If they live long enough, they will most likely outlive their $.
If her kids did asset transfer(s) to get them LTC Medicaid eligible, they would have needed to do it 5 full years from the date of each of their LTC Medicaid applications for most states. So if LTC Medicaid applied for now, then done stuff back in Summer of 2017 to have it outside of the required Medicaid lookback period. Otherwise it will now snowball into a problem and a penalty against both of them for ever being eligible for Medicaid.
Pls. find out how NH getting paid b4 you work yourself up even more.
the individual filing for guardianship has to hire & pay for the attorney and court costs. Maybe $7-10K range. If they are successful, they can repay those costs from the elders financials, if elder has the $. And if allowed by the court on the regular reporting the court is going to require a guardian to file. Otherwise you front all the co$t$ & do it out of a sense of familial responsibility.
If there are liquid cash assets like savings accounts, investments, annuities, etc... that can be cashed out they go to pay the rest of the nursing home bill that they're income does not cover. All of this money has to be spent down along with the proceeds from any real estate they own before Medicaid will start paying for them.
You could talk to a lawyer. It can't hurt and most first consultations are free. You are not going to be able to protect any assets at this point. There won't be any money for any of you.
Your father and his wife are both in a nursing home. Medicaid (the state) is not going to pay for them so their family can inherit their assets. Your father and his wife would have had to take assets like bank accounts and investments out of their names and transfer real estate or put into a special trust at least five years prior to them being placed in managed care. This is the only way assets can be preserved and not spent down on the care bills. Even if their home was in a survivorship deed which means one spouse gets the whole thing if the other dies. They are both in a nursing home. The nursing home gets all of it.
Your father was not "tricked" into a nursing home with his wife. Someone else was able to legally make this decision for them.
This is why adult kids (even when they hate their parents) have to stay in close contact with them as they age. Especially in families that were blended late in life.
You're not going to get anywhere trying to prove and prosecute past alleged abuse that you suspect was committed by your step-siblings. Don't go down that road. You will never get satisfaction and will end up with huge legal fees and court costs.
Visit your father. Spend time with him. That's about all you're going to be able to do now. I'm sorry this happened to you, but don't go broke yourself trying to fight and recover assets that are going to the nursing home anyway at some point.
Also: any kind of paid care is very expensive. The stepfamily may have been using his assets to pay for the NH, for 2 people. Very expensive! It sounds more like a case of messy management than something criminal. Families that are blended later in life are fraught with many complications. Your story is a very common one here on this forum.
If you want to manage your father's affairs and he is beyond assigning you as PoA, then you can talk to a social worker about emergency guardianship but I'm not sure how easily or quickly that is granted. I have read on this forum that gaining guardianship through the courts can be very expensive ($10K) and probably depends on what state he lives in. And, if any other family member contests your request for guardianship, the judge may grant it to a professional guardian because family in-fighting is not in the best interest of the person (your Dad in this case).
If I were in your shoes I'd consult a certified elder law attorney to see what you need to do, what your chances are of "winning", and how much it will cost. You must be prepared to pay for whatever legal services you needed, even if you "lose". I wish you much wisdom as you make decisions.