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My mother and father were on Medicaid for 17 years, my parents transferred their land/home under my name back in 2007, and it is solely under my name. I have paid all the taxes and maintenance since then and let my parents live there so they would not be placed in a home we all took turns caring for them. They paid utilities and had their own bank account (less than $5000) under their names, everything else including vehicles have been under my name. My father passed away in 2011 and my mother passed away in 2017 (just a few months ago). We just received a letter from MERP stating the estate owes $57000. What should I do?

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I was told that if I paid taxes, etc on my Moms house that I better keep meticulous records and even then no guarentee I would get my money back. When ur parents filed for Medicaid they had to prove assets. The house being one. At the time they started receiving Medicaid a lean was put on the house. I am surprised that the lawyer transferring the deed didn't do a title search and found this. When the house was turned over to you so were any leans. So, it comes down to you paying MERP or selling the property to satisfy the debt. You need a lawyer. Medicaid allowed ur parents to stay in their home. They could have told them it needed to be sold, spend down and then appy again.
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I've read on this site that if a heir has paid taxes etc on their parents home such as you have described then they are to submit that to Medicaid as a claim against the property which would reduce the amount MERP would be able to collect. So consult a qualified elder attorney experienced in medicaid law for your state. You may owe against a MERP claim but with your documentation, hopefully not as much as their original claim.
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As far as i have been told by my sisters (they had POA of both my parents financials and medical decisions) they were not aware of any break in coverage. The house is not going to be sold, back in 2010 my father requested to have the land transferred to my only son since he carries the family's last name but we had not gotten around to transferring from my name to my son's since we had been dealing with our family illnesses/issues.
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Medicaid meaning for insurance purposes? They were never in NHs, right? If the rules work for insurance like it does for being in a home, your parents didn't have the right to hand the house over to you. It was their asset and Medicaid is entitled to the money back. You need a lawyer that knows Medicaid.
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Doing the math I can see that the problem is most likely the transfer of the house since they were on Medicaid at the time of transfer. This will be a tough one to work around. Jeanne had excellent advice about consulting a lawyer. Since the house was their primary residence and people cared for them there, perhaps there is some way to get around this. Do you plan to keep the house or do you plan to sell it? If it wasn't and still isn't your primary residence, it will be difficult to get around having to pay MERP.
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JennaWade24, just curious why your parents transferred the deed to the house/land over to you? What was their reason?
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I think you should consult an attorney specializing in Elder Law, to see if some exemptions might apply in this case. Your parents were already on Medicaid when they signed the house over to you. That would be considered a gift and should have affected their eligibility for a period. Did it?

In any case, see an Eleder Law attorney. This sounds a bit complicated.
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