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how long do you have to do that before the nursing home will be paid by the government if she has to go?

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5 year look back.

When you do the Medicaid application, she or you will sign a form H1200. Which means you give HHSC consent to obtain information from ANY sources to verify the information. This is all tied to the applicants & the spouse's SS# - so you can't really can't be anything but transparent on what's what. You have 10 days from when you sign to tell them of anything you may have forgotten. H1200 also allows for possible estate recovery for Medicaid $ spent on her care including prescription costs upon her death. So if she still has a house and you go to sell it after she dies, there may be a lien on it by HHSC for the tally.

Find an elder care attorney (certified in this speciality) as they can guide you best. Every state is different, so you want to get someone who ideally is in the county where she lives too. If you don't have DPOA, MPOA, incapacity statement done already, they can do that too.

Miller trust, life estate, LadyBird deed are all options. IMHO it really depends on what you anticipate her needs to be and what she has her $$ in currently and if she has bequests that are POD. If she has any margin calls get those done as one of your first things. Does she have a broker? If so they will have suggestions for attorney's. If estate is truly large, you might want them to manage it anyways to avoid future litigation within the family or others.

Right now the maximum monthly in income is $ 2,022.00 per month in Texas. 1 penny over and no medicaid - Miller trust is good for situations when they are slightly over the maximum as it is easy to administer and allows for flexibility like if her annuity has a COLA. Whatever the case you need to get all her income info together and go over before you meet w/elder attorney.

If she has oil & gas royalty payments,I've found that is a total pain in the butt to deal with as it can vary wildly and sometimes they only pay annually and it can take her over the monthly $ for that month. Then sometimes they are dormant for years with zero income then the lease gets sold, then they get $ from the sale. Either way she gets ineligible and you have to reapply. NH doesn't get paid and you have to pay the NH for the month. My advice is to get mineral/oil/gas transferred or sold. If they are small then donate to a charity, just too much paperwork.
Good luck getting organized.
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Igloo572: great suggestions!!!
5 year look back is what I was told as well. My mother is only 66 and I have already started things in motion. She has dementia I know that eventually she will need to go to a home. I am her 24/7 caregiver now. Mom had some money but since her house needed lots of updating most of that went to fixing up her home. Which in turn will be a good investment later on if house needs to be sold. Mom's Financial advisor was livid that I moved her money to invest it back into her house. But her investor was also in my eyes was not using her investment money appropiately he knew of moms dementia. So he had complete control over this money till I called him on it!!
Mom added my name to the deed of the house and property(I was willed it anyway) I was told that doing so would stop any liens that state would place if mom ever needed Medicaid. However, in my state moms current monthly income is still too much for her to qualify for Medicaid.
Another thing to remember that if you move this money, sell or etc. The IRS will come down on her maybe putting her in a higher tax bracket in turn she will pay more federal taxes. This year my mom will pay more in taxes cause she falls in a higher bracket. But I needed to prepare for the future. Alot of things can happen in the next few years so we needed to be prepared.
Yeah you need to talk to someone that has knowledge on this issue so that you handle it right.
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Yellow - You should check that your name on the deed as 1/2 owner isn't enough to prevent the lien. Lien can be placed for the amount of $ owed, so if she lives a very long time with Medicaid $ can easily supercede what the house can sell for.

You might ask the attorney to draw up a "personal services contract" for you so you can legally get compensated for the care that you provide for your mom. If you're not working because you are there 24/7 think about doing that.Attorney will know what the going rates are in your community so it passes the sniff test. Otherwise whatever you do is viewed as a gift with no value. A friend of mine has one and uses it to pay her own long-term care insurance.

Also if you co-mingle accounts, that can be an issue. Every state is different.

You are so right, there are alot of bad "investment advisors" out there. IMO the best seem to be the old-line stockbroker (ones who take a series 7) with the more low profile brokerage houses. I adore my broker but I'm in it for the long haul.
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At this point you certainly need to see an elder lawyer. There is a five year look back on everything she gives away. She can only give, tax free, about 13K a year per child but that even can be taken back. A trust would have been great, but it could be too late for that. Maybe think of an alternative to a nursing home. They are so expensive but then all types of care are pretty expensive. My Mom is in a similar situation, she has a good deal of money and she says it is for her and to pay for her nursing home. Well, that is what she wants and what she will get. what does your Mom want? Does she want to stay home? Unfortunately if wealthy people or even the not so wealty don't give away some of their money or put it in a trust years before they could go into a home, there isn't much you can do.
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If she's quite wealthy, why don't you just pay for her care out of her money. That way you can control where she goes, for instance, assisted or independent living is half the cost of a nursing home and much, Much, nicer. Then when she dies you can worry about dividing up what's left.
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