My mother has dementia and in memory care. I have kept the property insured. I live 2 hours away and work full time, time is an issue. Do I spend time with her or worry about her property?
Whose estate? If she is still alive, have you gotten a letter from MERP? Don't worry about her property if her Medicaid benefits have exceeded the market value of the house. Keep track of what money you have spent on upkeep and recover it when the house is sold.
Since your mother has been in memory care (you didn't mention her marital status or if anyone else was residing with her at her home), is her house vacant? If so, I would be concerned about whether that is in keeping with the terms of her insurance policy. Some insurance companies will not pay out claims on vacant property where no one is in residence, if it goes against the terms of the home insurance contract. So you might want to check on that before deciding what to do about the policy and its costly premiums.
Dpat - their home is allowed in most states to remain an exempt asset under Medicaid. Now although that sounds just dandy, the problem arises that all their income must be paid to the NH less a small ($60-115) personal needs allowance. They will have none-nada-zero of $ to pay on anything house from now till death and beyond into probate. Family will need to pay for all costs on the home.
Now since Medicaid is state run, just how your state has property rights & probate done will make a difference in whether & how you can be reinbursed for whatever you or others pay on the home. If your state allows for a lien to be placed on property once medicaid is active, well it's quite different than one that MERP is a claim against the estate. And a state that has all claims in probate as equal different than one which is a Level of Claim state for probate. Your states laws and administration of Medicaid make a critical difference. Before this goes on too long, I'd suggest you meet with an experienced elder law attorney to find out clearly what is likely for your state.
To me, keeping a parents home is like having a 2nd or 3rd home & most of us cannot afford to do this, so the house gets sold, with proceeds from the sale used to private pay for care and do a spend down. In order for you to be reinbursed at the act of sale for your expenses you need some sort of agreement in advance. Otherwise it will be viewed as "gifting" by Medicaid. It can get to be a real Catch22 for family.
Keeping house can work, but you need to clearly go,over the costs on the home and look into your purse & pocket to see if it totally works for you for now and for the long term (through the probate process). I would caution on depending on family to do stuff. Often they are all good for a while, but then you find that they did not pay property taxes...yikes! 1 person needs to take care of all things house and keep meticulous records on every costs with an agreement in place.
MERP is required to do a cost- effectiness on claims. A low value property with claims against the estate by family may not meet the threshold to be cost effective. There was a person on AC who had their moms old 35/40K house with about half of that in expenses and got MERP to settle for 4k to release the claim - house had all sorts of deficiency too so limited in sellable value. Another person on AC is going to ignore MERP for the 10 yr statute of limitations for their state (they pay taxes and the occasional yard mow so minimal costs). If your moms house is worth over 100/150K it is going to be worth MERP going after IMHO. So look at the whole picture before you go into more expenses on moms house.
I would think since the house is still deeded in your mother's name, and Medicaid hadn't taken over ownership, that your mother is still responsible.
Hire someone to keep the lawn in shape, and like Pam said above, keep track of the money you spent on the house. Who has the Power of Attorney? Let that person know what you are doing.
About the vacant house & insurance, harried is right. Most homeowners policy require that they live in the home to be valid. If an insurance co can get out of paying off a claim, they will and this could be quite a problem.... Otherwise you need a vacant dwelling policy ( usually is just a fire policy) done. VDP'S are speciality carrier products and written by independent insurance agents (State Farms, Allstates, etc do not do VDP's). I just got one on my moms house, as it is now an "Estate of" ownership as we're in probate. They are expensive...the base is fire only and based on Sq footage and all I got quotes on are 6 mo policies. You pay additional for all add on's....so contents is an additional rider & cost; if house placed on market so people coming through then that's another rider & $$. roughly 1K for 100K value & I had to provided court documents to get it written.
Some insurance companies will not pay out claims on vacant property where no one is in residence, if it goes against the terms of the home insurance contract. So you might want to check on that before deciding what to do about the policy and its costly premiums.
Now since Medicaid is state run, just how your state has property rights & probate done will make a difference in whether & how you can be reinbursed for whatever you or others pay on the home. If your state allows for a lien to be placed on property once medicaid is active, well it's quite different than one that MERP is a claim against the estate. And a state that has all claims in probate as equal different than one which is a Level of Claim state for probate. Your states laws and administration of Medicaid make a critical difference. Before this goes on too long, I'd suggest you meet with an experienced elder law attorney to find out clearly what is likely for your state.
To me, keeping a parents home is like having a 2nd or 3rd home & most of us cannot afford to do this, so the house gets sold, with proceeds from the sale used to private pay for care and do a spend down. In order for you to be reinbursed at the act of sale for your expenses you need some sort of agreement in advance. Otherwise it will be viewed as "gifting" by Medicaid. It can get to be a real Catch22 for family.
Keeping house can work, but you need to clearly go,over the costs on the home and look into your purse & pocket to see if it totally works for you for now and for the long term (through the probate process). I would caution on depending on family to do stuff. Often they are all good for a while, but then you find that they did not pay property taxes...yikes! 1 person needs to take care of all things house and keep meticulous records on every costs with an agreement in place.
MERP is required to do a cost- effectiness on claims. A low value property with claims against the estate by family may not meet the threshold to be cost effective. There was a person on AC who had their moms old 35/40K house with about half of that in expenses and got MERP to settle for 4k to release the claim - house had all sorts of deficiency too so limited in sellable value. Another person on AC is going to ignore MERP for the 10 yr statute of limitations for their state (they pay taxes and the occasional yard mow so minimal costs). If your moms house is worth over 100/150K it is going to be worth MERP going after IMHO. So look at the whole picture before you go into more expenses on moms house.
Hire someone to keep the lawn in shape, and like Pam said above, keep track of the money you spent on the house. Who has the Power of Attorney? Let that person know what you are doing.