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I live in Ohio and my 81 year old mother has dementia and lives with me , I am disabled and need help with long term caregiver assistance. I have been told that I can transfer the little cash assets my mother has to me without penalty as well as a small , unsellable piece of property in another state that’s tied up in a Will. I have consulted a few lawyers and got mixed feedback. I am a trying to make her assets stretch to care for her needs in areas not covered by Medicaid.

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How little are the "little cash assets"? If you are talking about ongoing small amounts of money, you could just do a caregiver contract. Trusts and annuities have their own expenses.

SSDI apparently isn't impacted unless you have "substantial" earnings ($1,310 a month in 2021) https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html

Are you sure you want the "small, unsellable piece of property"? What is the assessed value and annual property taxes? Would one of the adjoining neighbors buy it for enough to make it worth pursuing?
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It still counts against her, unless I believe (but you should consult an Elder Law lawyer for financial planning and ask)you set up trusts, because it's less than the five-year window. A person has to have transferred or gifted their assets at least five years prior to having applied, to avoid a spend down. This is best navigated by and Elder Law attorney who will explain any ways to use trusts to avoid financial exposure.

Edit: My mistake for not reading more closely, there are exemptions for provisions for disabled children, but still get in touch with an Elder Care attorney for financial planning to put it into a managed trust, to prevent any exposure.
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I am not familiar with this myself, but here is a web site that describes exempt transfers to disabled children.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-can-i-safely-transfer-my-assets-get-medicaid-pay-long-term-care.html
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ANY assets can be transferred to a disabled child of any age as an exempt asset for Medicaid. The question you need to ask the lawyer is:

Since I am acting POA, is it a conflict of interest or breach of fiduciary responsibility to transfer my mom's asset to myself?

Hope that helps.
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I need to clarify , I am not trying to take my mothers assets for myself or HIDE them. I do not need her money nor do I want it. I was told by a 2 elder care lawyers that since I am a disabled child on social security disability, based on my own work record, not Medicaid based, that I as my mothers POA can transfer assets to myself and it would be up to me if I spend the money on her down the road. I am trying to plan ahead, not cheat but also I want to make what my mother does have stretch. She worked her entire life as did my father who died before he retired. They definitely paid into government assisted programs and luckily besides Medicare, neither had to draw from it.
The mixed information I have gotten from EL attorneys is on how this is done correctly.#1 says it has to be set up as a trust in my name or an annuity, both not too convenient to set up . The other #2 who I planned to use for the whole process said that I can just write myself a check off of a shared bank account I have with her. Then the #2 proceeded to tell me ,after I’ve paid 1k to him for numerous phone calls, that he isn’t familiar with my county’s rules. Therefore I lost faith in him and I’m confused on the protocol of this type asset transfer allowance or gift. My question here was simply seeing what others have heard before deciding if I’ll try for another attorney that’s familiar with my county.
I moved my mother out of an abusive home and hope to keep her out of a nursing home. I will never recover the costs of providing her with the home she now has with me nor expect to. She has her own apartment within my house but if there are ways that I can help HER money go farther in order to pay for say , night help , which I have been told Medicaid will not cover, then I will do what I can. I am an HONEST person with serious health problems of my own but I had to make this happen for her well-being despite the risk of moving a person with dementia . I took my mother on to protect her not only from a family members neglect but financial ruin but also to keep her out of a facility during this pandemic. I pray she dies peacefully in her sleep someday before I ever have to make that choice.
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worriedinCali Dec 2020
The lawyers are correct, Medicaid allows provisions for disabled adult children. I think some of the responders here must have forgotten about that because some actually have disabled family members and know about this stuff first hand.
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The trickery that goes on with "asset protection" very often doesn't end well. Your Mom's assets are your Mom's assets. If she gives them away, gifts them, then she will not qualify for care she needs, and small they are, they may prevent you from qualifying for care in future. You should be scrupulous in your honesty with getting your Mom qualified for medicaid in my own opinion. As to mixed advice from Lawyers I would take the advice of the lawyer suggesting utter honesty in your Mom's assets.
The caveat is, if Mom lives with you, you and a lawyer can draw up a care contract with her in that her current social security may for the most part be paid to you for rental, food, cooking, cleaning, caregiving. That would work WHILE she lives with YOU and is cared for by you.
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IMO you can't. For one, if Mom needs Medicaid now transferring her assets will be considered hiding her assets. Her money is to be used for her care. Assets will need to be spent down and then apply for Medicaid for her.

For you, are you on SS disability? Do u receive Medicare with Medicaid as a supplement? If so, your Medicaid will be effected if u transfer Moms money.

I really don't see how u can do this legally. Mom has Dementia and cannot allow the transfer. If Medicaid find out it has been done, u will have to transfer the money back to her name.

Sorry, but Moms money is hers for her care. You can't expect to use it for your care.
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I'm puzzled about "mixed feedback" from a few lawyers. a good elder law attorney in your State should know the law and the best way to proceed in your case.
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