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since medicaid uses all of her income to paid her expenses in the Nursing Home (she is 91 and lives in a NH facility). We have been paying the home with some of the rentals fees we receive from rentals my mom gave us 5 years ago. These rentals are in Puerto Rico. She lives in Florida now in a NH. Thanks Jeanette

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tessa - if it were me, yes I'd take the documents and have them reviewed by a PR real estate atty. The whole signature in PR in front of PR notary and recorded just has to be correct for the title and transfer to be valid, is my understanding. The Act 20 & 22 has PR with oodles of potential buyers right now as if you have investment based income taxed at 23% in mainland but ZERO in PR is the way to go if you want to retire outside of US & are OK with living in PR; but what I've heard is that because of the uniqueness of PR sale, mortgage & title, filing, PR soil signature, etc, buying older houses just isn't happening cause you can't get real true ownership as there is always a snafu in the recording. Like wonderful old ones in Guaynabo, invariably have title issues as owner moved to mainland and signed /sold or filed not in PR. Old houses sit forever on sale but new $$$ condo's sell as solid title. Apparently stuff can't be done at the PR consulate as its technically not a foreign country (like say German consulate would be for the US) & that is how many were done. Really try to make sure & before mom is unable to travel if need be for her to sign (again).
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Thanks igloo572. The information you gave me has been helpful. The houses and property where gifted to us by a legal agreement done through a lawyer. She gave us the properties as a gift. No money was exchange just the legal documents signed by our mother. Do you think we will need other papers to make sure these properties are ours. A little confused about this. When I go to PR next time, I will try to check this out. Your right PR laws on property and other things is soooooo different than here. It has been a challenge, but God has provided my brother and I with the funds to continue to help mom and hopefully one day, we can get our money back. We are going to need it for our own care. My brother is 69 and I am 68. Getting there Lol.
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Tessa - so there was property(s) mom owned in PR that she gifted to you & your hermano 5 years ago that you & bro legally own but rent with rental $ used to pay on her care in a NH in Florida.... AND there is another PR property that mom owns & rents too but this one has a mortgage which is auto debited from her bank account with SS income to pay the mortgage on this house. Mom has no real other $$ to pay for her care, so you & bro make up the balance by the rentals. That's it, right?

If so, then those properties she gave you over 5 years ago are not her assets and not needed to be included for Medicaid. In reality you do not have to pay a penny of that rental income to anything "mom" but you choose to do so.

Now Moms house in PR with the mortgage, well she will end up defaulting on the mortgage and house going into foreclosure IF she goes onto NH Medicaid as Medicaid requires them to do a copay or SOC (share of cost) of all monthly income to the NH unless the rental income on this house can cover the mortgage and all other property costs. No more mortgage payment from her bank account. Some states allow for a limited few months of a waiver on this requirement for mortgage if property has a current MLS Realtor listing (but mom or her DPOA would have to apply for it). Pls realize that if mom applies & gets on Medicaid, once house sells all the $ from the sale less morgage balance has to be "spent-dwon" before she can get medicaid. If she were to ay off the mortgage but keep the home, the state is required to attempt a recovery of all assets in her estate after death. That house will end up being an asset of her estate.
It sounds like you & brother just dont have the $ to cover this properties mortgage & other costs if need be. It may be the best use of time & energy just to let the house go into foreclosure, stop the auto pay on the mortgage ASAP & have mom apply for Medicaid. Mom walks on mortgage and any costs on the house. Yeah it's harsh but reality often is.

Tessa - also another ? for you, PR real estate & legal runs pretty different.... when mom sold the other property to you & your bro 5 years ago, it was done all ok for PR with a "mortgage deed" (not a Deed of Trust like in US), &/or Certificate of Satisfaction and everbody signed all documents while on PR soil with PR notary and then actually registered& recorded in Dept of Justice?? Right? One reason imo why stuff isn't moving - even with Act 20 & 22 available - is that property wasn't transferred properly by those who moved to & are in mainland so sales can't be done as the titles are crap, clouds on ownership, old transfers not valid & going back decades and PR finally has gotten theAGs office organized in the property register division so its easily uncovered now. I'd suggest you asap get PR legal to review the old sale or transfer before Medicaid application cause if not ok, mom will have too too many assets from the old properties to ever be eligible.
!Buena suerte!
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Tessa, once you are past the 5-year mark for the property transfer, then apply for her Medicaid. Medicaid does a 5 year look back. The only thing they will put a lien on will be the house and car in her name.
Do not co-mingle your rental incomes with hers. Keep it separate. Always.
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We know that, but we are talking about PuertoRico. Houses are not selling there. The house is very nice and really doesn't need many repairs. The renters take good care of it. We are trying to sell it, but no one is buying in PR. They are leaving in March. Thanks for the advise. Stuck in the middle of all this!! The jest of it all, is that if you have nothing the government give you medicaid, but if you have a little, it wants to take everything you have for that little help they give you. I guess all my savings will one they be depleted to pay my care down the road. It's like why bother saving and retirement money if you can't enjoy it. Of well, it is what it is.
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Tessabella66, quickly get your Mom onto Medicaid so that you and your brother won't have to keep paying out of your own pockets and using the rent on Mom's house to pay her bills.

Once the Lease starts to end on Mom's house, seriously consider selling the house. It can be sold "as is" so you don't need to worry about doing any fixing up. There are a lot of house flippers out there. You could sell quickly, depending on how much is left on the house mortgage.

Once the house sells, you don't need to worry about property taxes, homeowners insurance, or any major repairs that tend to pop up when you aren't looking, like the furnace needing replacing. One rental property I had, I had 3 major appliances all fail and had to be replaced with one month's span. That was expensive.
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Right, the NET rent from HER house has to go to the nursing home. Medicaid rule.
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The properties are under our names, we just use the money to pay for her care. The only property she has is the house and car.
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ALL of her SS check goes to the nursing home. The NET rents go to the nursing home. That means you pay the mortgage out of the rents, the taxes out of the rents etc. I suggest keeping a totally separate account for the rental property because Medicaid will want to see her schedule E (rental income).
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The house is rented, which we use to pay for her care. She has no more funds and we are not able to sell anything (nothing is selling). My brother and I have used our money to pay some of her bills. Taxes, etc. It's becoming overwhelming for us. We barely make it each month to pay for her care. She is not mobil and need 24/7 care.
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She is allowed to own the house, but she will not have funds to maintain it. There will also be a lien against it and the state will recover the cost of her care from its sale after she dies.

She can sell the house now and use the proceeds to fund her own care until it runs out, and then apply for Medicaid.

She can keep the house and her kids can continue paying the mortgage and upkeep. Keep absolutely all the receipts so those expenses will be deducted when the state wants their share of the proceeds.

She could rent the house out, with the rental monies being used for her care.

Was the gift of the rental properties made a FULL five years before she will apply for Medicaid. Any more recent than that will create some issues.

There are some exceptions regarding the state claiming the proceeds of the house sale.

I think it would be very worthwhile to use some of Mom's funds to consult a lawyer specializing in Elder Law, and learn what your options are and how various actions now will impact you in the future.
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