My mom had to sell her home and move in with family. I want to build a small house for her in our backyard. Can she use her money to fund it?

Get her a tiny House they have Nice Ones for a good price .

If she falls and lives in backyard, she'll be on floor all night until you feel like checking on her.....in morning? I don't think it's a good idea. It might be a good idea for your pet, but not mom.

Your mother would be liable to not only Medicaid but the irs if she were to p ay

Sorry, too many replies so if this has been said sorry.

You cannot build a house on ur property with Moms money. Medicaid sees it as u profiting when u sell ur house. Proceeds from Moms house should be used on Mom only. No Gifting.

This should be checked out with and cleared with an elder law attorney. She is building on YOUR property. Honestly that makes it YOUR home she is building so far as I can see, and were she ever to undergo Medicaid lookback of expenditures I think that this would be questioned. There may even be tax implications in this.

I would see an attorney before going forward with this, and even if attorney clears it your paper trail better be meticulous.

Lanie, have you gone ahead with your original plans?

Advice here can vary - be supportive but also 'tough love' built from experience from the 'front line'.

I hope you found a suitable solution for your situation.

Dementia? 🚩

Care needs go from supervision, prompts, assistance, full care.

Your Mother may not stay in her own small house for long.

There was another poster who's Dad was in a small house on the property. No sense of boundaries, always at the big house, all hours, was losing ability to care for himself.

I think you need to be realistic about what stage your Mother's independance living skills are at.

Unbelievably, the AARP is promoting this nonsense about “accessory dwelling units” being built onto family homes so that multi-generations can live together as the older generation looks for care. I can’t tell you how misguided this seems to me.

AARP Magazine of August/September 2023 has an article pushing this policy. It’s all about sunshine and flowers and family togetherness, but not a word about how it will be when Granny starts wandering all over the neighborhood in the middle of the night when she gets dementia. Or who’s going to be changing Grampa’s Depends while she’s still got a full time job and three teens to raise.

I cannot support this insanity. Our many aging and vulnerable members of society need and deserve professional care, not a granny flat and an exhausted family caregiver who has no more to give. Lord help us.

From a real estate point of view - Our home has an attached and a detached garaged.With cash, we built a garage apartment over the detached garage (ADU accessory dwelling unit is the current term) for our disabled son. The immediate plus was our property increased in value more than we paid for the build. Washer and dryer, cooktop, microwave dishwasher, frig - everything except an oven- because he had oven issues.

Son lived there for a couple of years paying rent out of his disability.

Son moved out and we now rent it out as a guesthouse for short term use. Most of our renters are contract workers who stay for several weeks (thanks to the washer and dryer). We didn't like the idea of sharing our property with a regular renter -some people would rather have a regular renter (less money) rather than deal with changeovers.

waytomisery's point about future medicaid is really important. When we were trying to figure out what to do with my ILs years ago, one of the options was moving them in with my husband's brother and wife. We did all the homework and we could have used the ILs savings to pay for "accommodations" needed at the brother's house. FIL was a double leg amputee at that point which would have required some large alterations. Those accommodations would have been acceptable and not impacted a future medicaid look back. Brother's home would have needed a kitchen and bathroom rebuild and ramp access.

You say you plan on your Mom living with you until the day she dies .

Having her own home does NOT equate to living with you . She has dementia already. It’s too late to build a home for her. Her problems that caused her to sell her house will only get worse . Either Mom truly moves in with you or she goes to a facility. She will need 24/7 supervision . If you work that will mean having to hire caregivers . This can be very expensive.

If you build on your property even an extension to your home with Moms money , that could be a problem with the 5 year lookback if your Mom ever needed to be in a nursing home on Medicaid .
Talk to an elder care attorney before doing any building .

Personally , I think it’s a bad idea .

20 years ago my mother sold her house and spent the money on a granny flat in our yard. We are rural, partly forested, with a large acreage, but I still had to jump through many bureaucratic hoops.

10 years ago I began to suspect that my mother was more than just difficult, and developing dementia. By the time I recognized that she should transition to a care home, the pandemic started and several family members died, so we kept her in her granny flat. I was stuck as her sole caregiver. What a nightmare that became! She was bossy and combative. We couldn’t escape her. She was certain my children were stealing from her. She demanded me, and only me, 24/7. I hired caregivers 4 hours/day, every other day, just so I could shop, look after my own house and nap. She tried to block their entry to her home. Tried to fire them.

Like you, I hoped she’d live there until the day she died. My mental and physical health declined from her multiple daily ambushes and negativity. We had to close our pool when she (a non-swimmer) decided she had to swim her daily lengths. She boarded up the windows with scrap cardboard. She walked into danger. (steep ravine with flowing water) She accused us of holding her hostage and tried to get back to the home she’d sold to move here. She threatened and tried to kill herself when she didn’t get her way.

I’m just scratching the surface here.

Never underestimate the determination of a person with dementia. Perhaps your mother won’t be like mine. Plan for later because her capabilities today are the best they’ll ever be.

Note: Having said all of this, what my mother paid to build her granny flat was less than she would have paid in rent in our area, as she did live in it for almost 18 years. She is now in care.

I think building a separate house for someone with dementia bad enough to have to move out of her previous home is a horrible idea. Just because she is in your backyard does not mean that you are watching her. My mom lived with me for 7 years as her cognitive decline became dementia and so on. I had to keep an eye on her in the kitchen and do her meds, etc. etc.

I wish I had put her in AL years ago. When she could have adjusted better and done more activities and made more friends. I would use the money your mom has from selling her house and try AL. Caring for someone with dementia is very challenging.

If you insist upon doing the very difficult, add a nice big bedroom with her own bathroom onto your house for her so you can actually have eyes on her.

“I’m planning on having her live with me until the day she dies.”

Why?

As in truly examine this. “Because I love her” or “I want to be a good daughter”. How do you think this situation will work? Are you thinking all nursing homes are hellholes? If so, you are mistaken. Shop around. There’s tons of people on here whose parents thrived in a therapeutic setting.

Even if you had a backyard house, it will eventually not be safe for her to live in it. You wouldn’t leave a small child at home by themselves. Your mother is going to regress to where she no longer knows how to do basics we take for granted. We assume phones, TVs, microwaves, and the like are easy to use. As an elder with dementia declines, these basic things are hazards.

Example: friend’s mom had dementia and lived alone. Friend went to check in on her and mother had put a pot of water on the stove, set it on high, and forgot it. Pot was boiled dry and a towel was right next to the burner.

As others have said here, I don’t think you realize how dementia is going to change your mother. It doesn’t sound feasible to build a house for her. If you insist on caring for her, just have her live in your home.

If you don’t want her to live in your home, there is a reason behind it.

I skimmed the replies and you have been told why Mom should not be in a house alone as she declines. If you want to have her living with u till she passes, maybe just add on to ur home. Have a sitting area, bedroom and bath.

If she has dementia, she isn't in above-average health for any age. She has a progressive neurological disease that is terminal. If she's in her house on your property, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to keep it going. You'll probably have to move her into your "crowded" house eventually in order to provide what she will need. At this point, unless you've done it before, you have no idea what you're getting into.

Who is the "we" that should be right there for her? Assuming that other members of your household are willing to inconvenience themselves for your mom is unrealistic. She will need someone to shower her, perhaps to change her Depends (double or single incontinence), monitor who she lets in and out of her house, stay with her at night when she becomes afraid or starts to wander, and so on. All of this may fall to you. Caregiving a dementia patient is HARD, and even those with the best of intentions become exhausted fairly quickly.

She'd be better off in a facility where she has her own room or apartment and people to congregate with, eat with, go out with, and all under the care of 24/7 professionals who know what they're doing.

Your mother would have to do all the work, the contracting, the planning, the payment for contractors and subs, and etc, payment for the supplies I would think.
This isn't something I would attempt without the help of an elder law attorney familiar with the laws of your state as regards Medicaid lookback of 5 years. Just me. Better safe than sorry when a mistake could be VERY costly.

Also please discuss with a realtor what having a cottage on your property will do to its saleability in the future. Will it have full appliances? She eventually won't be safe alone with certain appliances like stove and microwave...

Your mom can use her own money however she sees fit.

In your profile you say, "Due to cognitive decline and mild dementia, my mom recently had to move out of her own home and move in with my sister." So why then do you feel mom will be fine moving BACK into her own home once again? Because it's a smaller "cottage" located on your property??? The things going wrong that required her to move out of her home in the first place will continue to go wrong in the new cottage on your property, except with dementia being progressive, she'll continue to decline until she needs help with absolutely everything including using the bathroom every single time. How will she alert you she needs help, when she'll forget how to use the phone? Or what happens if/when she wanders out the door and off the property?

In reality, your mother needs 24/7 care AND supervision which means you either move her into your home (with caregivers if you work ) or a Memory Care Assisted Living facility. Unless she has the funds to hire caregivers in the cottage.

Understanding the the Dementia Experience by Jennifer Ghent-Fuller is a great book to pick up on Amazon or eBay to help you understand what both of you are facing.

Good luck to you.

Her money needs to be used for her care not to build a house on your property which (and I do not mean to insult) is more to your benefit financially than hers. Sell her home and use her funds for placement in memory care.

Honestly I do not think you understand the disease of dementia, she is the best she will ever be. It will come to a time that she will not be able to be left alone in her small house in your backyard.

Your plan of having her live with you till death do you part, is noble, just IMO not a good one.

She needs to be with people her own age, enjoying in house activities and a place that has a step up program when the dementia gets to the point she no longer knows you or has totally lost her mind, she will be safe and not left to her own devices in a tiny home behind your house and the ability to wander.

I would see an attorney and check your building codes.

Your mother does not have to live in your backyard for you to care for her, you can be her daughter and not only a caregiver if you place her in a facility.

Your plan sounds good on paper, but does not take into consideration what will happen the future. Read around this site, learn more about dementia for both you and her.

Good Luck!

Every Mom should have a daughter like you... but, respectfully I think you are romanticizing how things will go. She will not stay at the cognitive or physical level she is now. Dementia is progressive and sometimes includes behaviors like paranoia and sundowning, loss of logic and reason, loss of empathy for others (YOU are the other), she can become 100% incontinent, etc.

If you wish to plow ahead with this plan, please talk to an elder law attorney, and estate planner and a Medicaid Planner for her home state. ALso please read some of the hundreds of posts on this forum by people who build homes for their parents and then an unanticipated debaucle ensued.

I live next door to my Mom (94). She's single and I'm her only. She really really doesn't want to go into a facility but I told her that if she wants me to continue to provide hands-on care and manage her affairs as her PoA then she must agree to a facility the minute she's unsafe at home or I'm overwhelmed. She grudgingly agrees to this and I don't delude myself that she will remember but at least I have a clear conscience that we discussed it.

An advantage of helping your Mom settle into a nice facility is that she can be part of the decision-making process; she will most likely benefit from the social exposure and activities; and you'll have peace of mind and your life and privacy intact.

My Mom recently forgot how to use the microwave, so was not even able to heat her own simple dinner, so I had to trudge over there through the MN winter to do it for her because she wasn't able to follow instructions over the phone.

If you really want to build a home for her, make sure it can accommodate a rollator and a wheelchair, a large zero-clearance shower and other things to for people who need assistance. Please just do your homework thoroughly and realistically and don't make promises to your Mother that you may not be able or willing to keep. I wish you clarity, wisdom and peace in your heart as you make decisions.

Also building codes, you may need a certain amount of property to build on your existing property.

Your mother has dementia. It is a progressive disease.

You need to plan for the long term. That means realizing that at some point, your mother may not be able to be cared for at home. So you need to make sure that you don't unwittingly make her ineligible for Long Term Care Medicaid benefits.

You and mom need to consult a certified Elder Law attorney in your state. Medicaid is VERY state specific and what is okay in one state isn't allowed in the state next door.

You also need to make sure that your mom has the POA and Health Care Proxy documents in order. If you are doing the caregiving, YOU need to be POA so that you don't have to begging for resources from someone else

Good luck!

It’s generous of you to want to help your mother. One thing is for certain, the dementia will progress. Have you considered what the plan will be when even a separate home in your backyard is too far and not a safe living environment for her, for the time when she truly can’t be alone at all? For example, she may advance to a time when she can’t be trusted around appliances such as a stove, or may wander away when no one is watching, or take too many pills, there’s a myriad of possibilities. I had an aunt with Alzheimer’s who escaped several times in the night from an elaborate home security system. Consider these things as you plan

Hmm. Be sure to discuss it with an estate planning attorney.
It could well be smoother if you build the house yourself with your own money/ loans. Then charge her rent to live there. But consult estate planning attorney for sure.

I think this situation is messy because you want to build a home for your mother on your property.

Why not look into an assisted living facility? Have you considered this option?

Wishing you and your mom all the best.