NH director is saying whatever to ensure having a resident who can pay their NH bill. Her comments are totally from that perspective and not what may necessarily be in your mom’s best interest.
Your mom can continue to own her home & be in a NH. HOWEVER she will HAVE to HAVE the $$ to afford both. That will likely be a problem & NH director has seen this over & over
Realize NH can run 5-15k a mo; house (no mortgage) costs let’s say 15k-20k a yr for taxes, insurance, maintenance. So does your mom get $2k - 2,788 max SS mo income & have 250k - 300k in savings to be able to afford both house & NH for the average 2.5 yr NH stay?
If your mom is like most coming onto this site, she’s maybe $1200 a mo SS & 50k in savings & an old house that costs 15k a yr. Her finances are manageable as she can draw from savings to cover an emergency. BUT if she moves into a NH, between NH & her home all her $ will be gone within 6 months at best. She can’t afford both. Then what???
Well it means she applies for Medicaid. For Medicaid she can have only 2k in assets and basically all her monthly income MUST be paid to the NH as the required Medicaid copay or SOC (share of cost). Your Mom will have no-nada-zero $ to ever pay a penny on that old house of hers. She can continue to own it but someone in the family must pay all costs on a property that they do not own. And pay those costs realizing that upon mom’s death the state is required to attempt via Estate Recovery (MERP) a reimbursement of all costs paid by Medicaid from value of the property. If mom wants to keep her empty home & family wants to enable her to do this, you as her DPOA have to -in my experience- have to personally have the wallet to afford what basically is a 2nd home for possibly years, be comfortable with risk, be able to keep documentation on every dime of property costs, have a reasonable expectation of getting exemptions/ exclusions to MERP, and plan on opening probate & for a period of time if need be. For the DPOA this could be a good bit of time & $$ with risk.
What seems to happen is that family is all gung-ho abt mom’s house for a bit of time. But then....Sissy #2 fails to pay taxes; SIL is against any time or $ contribution to her MILs house so that brother is out of any support; and the nephew who was going to live in the house and pay rent, utilities and do all maintenance is less than stellar. Everything “mom” from NH/ Medicaid/ property all falls to you - and you alone - as her DPOA to deal with & pay for. If not, stuff will happen..... like taxes not paid then it goes for tax sale; utilities get shut off if not paid; if it’s rented that has reporting requirements to both Medicaid and IRS.... NH director has seen families in your exact situation and they know that your mom keeping her home is more than likely a crisis in the making. NH does not want to get stuck in any of this if it can be avoided. So the advice given is “sell mom’s house” so she can private pay NH.
Think carefully as to the costs of both time & $ as to if it’s feasible for 2-4 years atop all your other expenses. If it’s feas, I’d suggest that mom & you as her dpoa before the Medicaid application meet with a NAELA level of elder law firms to discuss how to structure property costs you will be paying and review her will and other existing legal.
Your nursing home director shouldn't be giving you financial advice. Get your advice from the right people. You need to consult an elder care lawyer who is familiar with the Medicaid laws in your state. You absolutely can own a home and have Medicaid approval (with lots and lots of ifs and ands and buts attached to this statement!) There are also ways to protect any equity in the home from Medicaid's right to recover money from the estate after the patient dies. You need to talk to a lawyer.
What? Will she be on Medicaid? You are allowed one home and one car. But payments if there are any will need to be made by others or any other assets. Does she have any assets, cash, stocks?
The home would have liens placed on it to pay for her care if she has to go in on Medicaid. The home is allowed because there is potential for income from rent from it. If sold, it must be at market value.
Your mom can continue to own her home & be in a NH.
HOWEVER she will HAVE to HAVE the $$ to afford both.
That will likely be a problem & NH director has seen this over & over
Realize NH can run 5-15k a mo; house (no mortgage) costs let’s say 15k-20k a yr for taxes, insurance, maintenance. So does your mom get $2k - 2,788 max SS mo income & have 250k - 300k in savings to be able to afford both house & NH for the average 2.5 yr NH stay?
If your mom is like most coming onto this site, she’s maybe $1200 a mo SS & 50k in savings & an old house that costs 15k a yr. Her finances are manageable as she can draw from savings to cover an emergency. BUT if she moves into a NH, between NH & her home all her $ will be gone within 6 months at best. She can’t afford both. Then what???
Well it means she applies for Medicaid. For Medicaid she can have only 2k in assets and basically all her monthly income MUST be paid to the NH as the required Medicaid copay or SOC (share of cost). Your Mom will have no-nada-zero $ to ever pay a penny on that old house of hers. She can continue to own it but someone in the family must pay all costs on a property that they do not own. And pay those costs realizing that upon mom’s death the state is required to attempt via Estate Recovery (MERP) a reimbursement of all costs paid by Medicaid from value of the property. If mom wants to keep her empty home & family wants to enable her to do this, you as her DPOA have to -in my experience- have to personally have the wallet to afford what basically is a 2nd home for possibly years, be comfortable with risk, be able to keep documentation on every dime of property costs, have a reasonable expectation of getting exemptions/ exclusions to MERP, and plan on opening probate & for a period of time if need be. For the DPOA this could be a good bit of time & $$ with risk.
What seems to happen is that family is all gung-ho abt mom’s house for a bit of time. But then....Sissy #2 fails to pay taxes; SIL is against any time or $ contribution to her MILs house so that brother is out of any support; and the nephew who was going to live in the house and pay rent, utilities and do all maintenance is less than stellar. Everything “mom” from NH/ Medicaid/ property all falls to you - and you alone - as her DPOA to deal with & pay for. If not, stuff will happen..... like taxes not paid then it goes for tax sale; utilities get shut off if not paid; if it’s rented that has reporting requirements to both Medicaid and IRS....
NH director has seen families in your exact situation and they know that your mom keeping her home is more than likely a crisis in the making. NH does not want to get stuck in any of this if it can be avoided. So the advice given is “sell mom’s house” so she can private pay NH.
Think carefully as to the costs of both time & $ as to if it’s feasible for 2-4 years atop all your other expenses. If it’s feas, I’d suggest that mom & you as her dpoa before the Medicaid application meet with a NAELA level of elder law firms to discuss how to structure property costs you will be paying and review her will and other existing legal.
The home would have liens placed on it to pay for her care if she has to go in on Medicaid. The home is allowed because there is potential for income from rent from it. If sold, it must be at market value.