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Mom had a stroke in September and is now in a nursing home. She has money in an IRA as well as in checking and savings accounts. How much can she have without being penalized?

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Every state is a little different, but commonly you can have a couple thousand plus a home with furnishings and a car, and a burial policy. Insurances without cash or face value are OK too.
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Dared - try to keep a sense of humor in dealing with all this.

Before you go to see legal, get whatever paperwork in order to take with you - if mom has a will, then take that. They probably will update it and do a codicil to it. Also make a list of all mom's pertinent details, like her & your dad's marriage(s) and DOB on all their kids. Take maybe the last 6 months of mom's bank statements and her CD and IRA info. As this is January, she should have gotten her annual SS statement of benefits form and the same type of form from any retirement or annuity she has. You just want to try to have as much information there for the first visit so they can advise mom & you based on good detailed information. If mom's monthly income is over Medicaid limits, they can determine whether she can do a Miller Trust to get the income to your state limit.

Now they may want to do a new DPOA, MPOA and maybe a "Guardianship in case of Incapacity" done also. Some POA's are "springing" POA's, so you want to make sure, what you have is NOT a "springing" type. This is why you need to take the current POA with you.

At some point in time, mom will run out of funds to private pay for the NH, and you will need to apply for Medicaid for her to pay for the NH. That is just the reality by & large. What you should speak with the attorney about is how to best use what assets mom has now. Cashing out an IRA or a an insurance policy takes time, so it is good you are seeing an attorney now. If mom does not have a prepaid funeral & burial policy, then some of that IRA $ can be used to pay for that. It just has to be under whatever your state has as the limit for funeral AND has to be NCV (no cash value). This is totally OK to do but some NH don't like this as they would prefer the 10K spent on the funeral was private pay to them. Good luck.
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I have taken the advise here and went to see an elder care attorney today. Only to discover my appointmemt was for NEXT week.
Must unscramble my calender.
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Make an appt with a Elder Care Attorney...
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The nursing home will take what it needs to pay the cost of her care. When that is used up, perhaps Medicaid kicks in.
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Penalized for what?
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