Need guidance with process for POA. Mom has dementia and recent pacemaker. Need home health aide and we're over budget for Medicaid, no assets.

Going to echo the others, if “income” too high see if in your State she can place 1 of those guaranteed incomes - like her SSA $ - into:
- Miller Trust
or a
- pooled income trust.
High income is very real LTC Medicaid problem as a lot of folks over the $2742 individual income max that most States have set for “at need”. Lots of retirees getting max SSA retirement which is abt $3,600.

It is exactly as Geaton posted on being specific to your State as to what can be done. Medicaid is administered uniquely by each State but under overall federal guidelines.

Out of curiosity, is she RRRB? And that seems to be the issue as nobody seems to understand it? We had that in my hubs family, railroad is a slightly different creature to deal with.

You need to provide more information, like what state your Mom lives in because options vary by state. Some states have a Miller Trust, where one can "off load" "excess" income so that they can qualify for Medicaid. Other than this, you can contact her local Area Agency on Aging for possible resources.

Regarding her creating a PoA, you will need to either take her to an elder law attorney who will interview her to determine capacity to create such a document. If so, then she can proceed to create it and finalize it.

The other option is to download a PoA document from a trusted source like Legalzoom.com or Rocketlawyer.com. It is much less expensive and they have lawyers to confer with through the process (online). You will still need to finalize the document per what her state requires (usually having it notarized in front of 2 non-family witnesses). Make sure to make 2 original copies: one for your Mom and one for the PoA. This is how my own Mom created her DPoA, but I only recommend it if there is no possibility of someone contesting the PoA. My Mom is single and I'm an only child, so it works in her case.

Have you spoken to a Medicaid planner or Elder Law attorney?

You need to know her state's specific regs for Medicaid qualification. Is the trust a pooled income trust?