Hello,This forum has been an amazing resource. Everyone's input has been appreciated.
It looks like she is going to be in the NH long term. Medicaid has not been officially approved. She has some money in the bank, a car, an unsellable house and pending funeral expenses.
My plan is to ask: 1 is cremation and a service is ok. I assume that can be prepaid before her funds go to the NH? 2 if medicaid puts a lien on the house, do I stop utilities payments and let the place be? 3 what happens to her car? Thank you
You have no bandwidth to sell the home? Well the catch is that any windfall from the sale will cancel Medicaid just to go through spendown again followed by re application.
You might want to contact Medicaid for answer options.
If it has land or is in a growing area there could be a market for the land (lot). The idea being that whomever purchases it has the intent of taking the house down.
If you go this route, be sure and get a certified inspection and appraisal, both legitimate spending from moms money. This will prove that the property was sold for fair market value based on its actual condition.
Personally, I don't think that just letting it go is always the best answer. Especially if there is a market for the land.
I am glad to hear that your mom will be getting the care she needs.
I really do not have the bandwidth to deal with her house being inspected or sold. As a long shot I was hoping to find a trusted person to occupy the place and handle the expenses so mom would have some more time with her pets. I really believe they are keeping her going.
Her old house has had a lot of unauthorized repairs, additional and work done. It wont pass inspection. Everything has been paid for and she owns the property.
Im hoping to allow her friend to live there long enough to relocate her cats. He said he can find another place. After that the place will be shut down and abandoned.
I have her at my place as a backup car. Im doing repairs. I have a lot of cleaning to do on it. Would be a shame to have to loose it.
I would also ask about nonlegal compliance rules from the inspector.
If they don't condemn it, get quotes to bring it up to code and into compliance, this could help with medicaid, proving that the house is worthless.
Best of luck, this is a tough situation to be in and deal with.
Medicaid will not put a lien on the house until Mom passes. They never take possession of the house. My Mom also had an unsaleable house. Once she was on Medicaid, I stopped paying the taxes and insurance. My nephew, disabled, was living in the home and paid the utilities. He moved out Sept of 2018, 1yr after Moms death. I then paid the utilities because the house was up for sale. I paid them till it was sold, for the 7 acres it had, in June of 2019. I had planned on abandoning the property and let it go to Sheriffs sale just before the sale. I kept one light on in the living room on a timer. We unplugged all appliances. Kept the thermostat on 55. I was reimbursed for my out of pocket at closing. I already had Moms house up for sale when I applied for Medicaid so not sure if they will require it to be sold. Thats were my lawyer came in, houses are to be sold at Market Value and there was no way that would happen. He was going to negotiate with Medicaid if I got an offer lower than MV. If you feel the house will not sell and you can't afford the upkeep, then abandon it. Mom will have no money to keep it up and your not obligated to. The county will eventually take it for unpaid taxes.
The car, if you have POA, sell it but has to be at MV and then you need to spend down that money. Otherwise, park it at the house. Stop paying insurance and registration. Mom will not have the money and your not responsible for it.
With my Mom she had 20k in the bank. This paid 2 months in LTC. Gave me a chance to apply for Medicaid and receive it. She paid May and June spending her down. I contacted her caseworker and proved she was spent down, Medicaid started in July.
When you say her "Medicaid has not been officially approved" does this mean you went through the application process? Her application has been submitted? How long ago?
Usually Medicaid allows a recipient to own 1 house and 1 car. A recipient can pre-pay for burial and cremation expenses, but not all related expenses. We had a pre-paid cremation insurance policy (the crematory was the beneficiary) and this expense was allowed by Medicaid: it came out my MIL's own funds. But I don't think they pay for anything other than the actual burial/cremation.
When you say her house is unsellable... what does that mean exactly? Was it a hoarded house? Does she not own the property it's on? This still has value even if the house doesn't. Are there unpaid property taxes? A mortgage? Can't answer your question about utility payments without more information.