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Medicaid 5 year look back. My grandfather bought me a home in September 2011 (both of our names on title) and in April 2013 shortly after I got married his name was taken off & my name remained. I made payments on the house for awhile but with cash; it got to a point where he wouldn't take my money anymore and told me that's my house and to take care of my family. Here recently we have been in the process of selling my home (the house he bought in 2011) and moving to a new city but now my grandfather is going to have to be placed in a nursing home. He has enough money to pay for nursing home for 2 years but after that point he will be out of money. Now I'm scared not only is my grandfather not doing well but we might be punished with his gifts (house and cars) and with both of ours names still on the vehicles with the 5 year look back and then my family will be in a horrible spot.

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When your grandfather put your name on the deed in 2011 he made a gift to you of 50% of the then value of the house (because you owned it jointly). When his name came off the deed, he made a gift to you of 50% of the 2013 value of the home. So you have two different 5-year lookback periods to contend with. The farthest-out date would thus be in 2018; if his money runs out in 2017, he will have to pay privately for that one-year period. It is important that he NOT APPLY for Medicaid until the second 5-year lookback period expires, otherwise his penalty could be for many, many months (based on the value of the 2013 gift). That period would surely be longer than the one year he will have to wait to get to 2018. Perhaps you can use the proceeds of the house sale--or the mortgage on the replacement house--to cover him for that one-year period.
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Call your county's office for aging to ask if they offer the services of an elder law attorney. Whether they do or not, go see one. Sounds like, if your grandfather lives past his two years worth of finances, half the value of the house will be recoverable by Medicaid. You really need professional help to be sure you're proceeding in yours and your grandfather's best interest.
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Your state's Attorney Bar Association may offer a free half-hour consult with a lawyer. Call them, outline your problem, they will refer you to a lawyer who specializes in that branch of law. I have used the service twice, had all of my questions answered within the half hour and was not pressured to purchase any services from the attorney I worked with.
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That is a tough question, one best answered by an Elder Law attorney. Each State has different rules and regulations regarding how their State medicaid works.
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You must still reckon with 5 years from the 2013 date, to not be penalized.
If he is a WWII or Korea Vet ,(or Viet Nam), he can get $1, 788 toward private pay nursing or Assisted living, I can answer some questions off line.
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in my state u must own the house for over or at least 5 yrs in case what u are going thru. if your dad is put into a nursing home again in my state that (state) has up to 5 yrs of assets to collect to pay for his nursing home expenses which means dude the house belongs to the state. again in my state that is how it is done. me i still have my 97 yr old mother and her $ has paid for live in care givers or daily care givers.
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Read Gabriel Heiser's book, "Medicaid Secrets." You can buy from him or check out of your public library. There is a BIG difference between the "5-year look back period" and the "Penalty Period." The 5-year lookback, is only 5 years....but the Penalty Period could last forever (theoretically). As Gabriel Heiser says, DON'T apply too early, because a very long penalty period could be established! If the home value in 2013 was something like $700, 000, M.A. would say that $350, 000 was gifted or transferred, and then they take average cost of nursing home (example, $5, 000 a month) and therefore the "penalty period" will become $350, 000 divided by $5, 000, for a whopping total of 70 months, which is longer than the 5-year "lookback" period. So the Penaly Period can be much, much more important to keep in mind.
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Sell the house but do not do anything with the money until you figure out both the capital gains taxes and the amount you set aside for Grandpa's half. The cars, you buy out his interest at fair market value. You need both an accountant and a lawyer to figure out all the details.
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Thank you all for your advise; I'm just in so much hurt and confusion right now. We are selling his house for $50K and he has $40K in the bank; with his $1,500 a month and the house and bank account I think he will be fine for awhile. I think he has enough to last him two years and then I'll have to come up with $60K+ for his last year. I just want my grandfather to be taken care of and I want my family to be safe as well.
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We will continue living in my house he gifted but I guess that will even have to go to the state. Houses less and car less in two years but I'll still have my grandpa.
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