Mom (90) was living alone, fell and broke her hip. Was replaced but cannot walk and is confused. Will not be able to return home. Advice?

So Mom is being put in LTC on Medicaid. So her SS and any pension will go towards her care. The 2k you spend down to (or what u state requires) cannot be spent on anything but Mom. So, that CC debt will not get paid. You are not responsible for her debts. Some members recommend that you not even contact the creditors or you will be hounded.

If your mother owns her home (which is excluded from Medicaid qualification) then when it is sold, the credit card companies may try to get their money. Medicaid will require funds from the home sale to be spent on Mom's care, unless the home is conveyed to a care giver under the care giver exception. I would discuss this with a SS or Medicaid specializing attorney who knows the laws in your state.

Don't worry about the credit card debit, it will actually work in her favor. You are not responsible for her debt. Place her in a home, it is the best thing for her.

Posters
Don’t forget about the
1099-C that CC Companies will issue to the IRS as income to her mom when they write off the debt. This can come years later. Then the IRS can come after the SS that is going to Medicaid and cause mom to lose her Medicaid unless she has a tax expert deal with it.
Here is an excerpt from one of Igloos answers on this subject.

“For 1099-C there is IRS Form 982 Insolvency that can be done to offset the income. It is not simple….really it could have been written in Latvian for me. Most 1099-C & Form 982 information is about how to deal with it for foreclosures & short sales, as the mortgage written off is taxable income. For elderly, doing a successful 982 for written off CC debt is going to be much harder. I had to deal with it for MIL and it was done by a tax professional.1099-C tend to come as complete surprise…..but you can't ignore it.”

Here is the total thread.


https://www.agingcare.com/questions/what-happens-to-moms-credit-card-debt-183081.htm?orderby=recent

Credit card debt is unsecured. It's the credit card companies' own fault if they loaned her that much money -- they make enough on merchant fees and interest and late fees from other people that they are doing just fine. Do not feel like you owe them anything.

Go forward with the Medicaid process and get her into care as the first priority.

After that's settled, then do study up on the things that have been mentioned about the 1099 that she may receive in the future. It is not urgent to understand all that right now this minute, just to be aware of it so it's not an unpleasant surprise later.