Is there anything that can be done now to protect my Dad's remaining assets?

$90K isn't going to last your dad very long if he is in assisted living unless he has an enormous pension, even if his costs are only $1000 a month above his income he only has a 90 month cushion.

Jeanne - I'd bet that at roughly under 100k in assets, dad since he is in AL is considered still living "in the community" so he's commnity spouse & can keep both the 50k annuity & his 40/45k liquid and still be under the 115k asset ceiling for a CS.

CF - please, please find the annuity and review the cash out & surrender terms. It could be quite significant between fees and penalty. If its the usual type of annuity dad can take a small minimum distribution withdrawal amount out annually. If dad did a SPIA well that is probably not an option ever. So the type of annuity matters. Assuming he can take $ out, you may want to do ASAP is take the maximum minimum distribution allowed annually with out penalty. It usually is 10% of face but coukd have a smallish fee. If it were me I'd use up dads liquid $ before ever cashing annuity out aka doing a settlement as it really costs so you want to do that only as a last resort but do the annual maximum minimum withdrawal distribution. Comprende?

Then I'd try to soend down to get dad to the 80k ASAP. Does he & mom have a pre-need funeral & burial done? If not, get those done ASAP, do the max min out of the annuity and maybe prepay his AL a couple of months or prepay funeral floral (usually not included in funeral burial preneed), get dental work done (or maybe post throat cancer cancer dental health treatment) to get him to 79k and get that A&A application filed. I'm assuming you have the A&A at the ready & just waiting for the magic asset # to file?

It's going to be quite the juggling act to get done but it could all work to get him to get A&A and not have to do a settlement cash out on that annuity. So dad is able to between his income & A&A pay for AL and not touch the annuity except for the annual min max so he dies with it still in place and available to you as his beneficiary. As annuities usyally pass outside of probate, it's not a recoverable asset for MERP.

Geez louise annuities and the advanced & ill elderly......you wanna be peeved? Review the commmision the from the annuity to the insurance agent.

Ladylee - AKdaughter is on the right track on this. As is debdaughter. VA is now placing income ceilings on the vet or thier spouse to determine if they are/is eligible for A&A.

They now do IVAP - Income for VA Purposes. For couples it's 80k & singles it's 50k plus home & car. I know your thinking wtf as that's less than medicaid application for couples with a community spouse situation. Ah but wait ....there's more.....under VA A&A now "income " is counted differently as VA seems to allow for some medical or medical related costs to be used to lower "income". So each applicants IVAP is unique.

At some point in the near future with the oncoming tsunami of baby boomers there will be no way for either states medicaid or the VA to pay for care at the rate (& it's increasing) cost in the long term. 100k - 150k paid out on average for a year of NH just isn't sustainable either for families or govt.. Personally I'd like to see the current crop of candidates talk about how this is going to work & just how there are going to enough low-wage workers to staff facilities if there arent immigrants. Walls....yeah well there will be folks from the US going over those walls to line in & get care in NH in Latin America. But I'll stop as this is not a political site.

Dad will be eligible for a veteran's pension when he his 80k in assets. Just have to finish with the selling of the house, the country will get my mom's share. Believe me when I tell you it's been a mountain of paper work and chores, and dad has been about the least cooperative a person you can imagine, but I've muddled through it.

If she is already on Medicaid and not "Medicaid pending" and you are getting these things outside of Probate, you should be good. Don't count on it though, Assisted Living has Level of Care costs that rise sharply as he declines.

I was thinking the same as cwillie. I would keep the money liquid in case he needs it. $90K sadly isn't very much when it comes to the end of life. It can evaporate in less than a year if things get worse. We can never tell with older people, particularly when their health is not good.

Dad had to spend 20% of his assets before she qualified. She went into a home first, and he still lived in his house until he couldn't walk well enough anymore. His hip is terrible, and he refused to get it replaced with the fiercest and most irrational stubbornness you can imagine. By the time I got guardianship and conservatorship, it was too late to compel the surgery as he would not likely survive it.

CF, the last article about A & A that I read said that the rules have changed. Now the threshold is that assets and annual income together cannot exceed $119,000. I am not sure if income such as SS is included in this calculation. You might want to call your local veteran's services office and ask them for the new rules.

When a couple applies for Medicaid for one and not the other, the remaining spouse can keep up to 119,000$ in our state.
That money can be used for their own needs.
If your Dad passed now, he can will his remaining money to his children. The money will not be taken for the care of his spouse. If your Dad outlives his money and goes on Medicaid then there will be no estate to preserve.
Good Luck.

ladylee, I think the VA is trying to come more in line with Medicaid threshholds as more and more people are applying for the A&A, so they may be counting SS in that now; I know it is counted as income, been dealing with this with hub's aunt and uncle for several years now because of both their income and assets; also, a will would have to be done before he passed but even if he did, how would that bypass MERP for his spouse?
also, igloo, is withdrawing from the annuity like withdrawing from an IRA, know that's also been an issue been dealing with with the A&A, those distributions count as income.