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I stand to get a decent inheritance from my parents (89) in my name only. (If I pass before my parents, their money goes to my kids and not my husband. I don't know if this is normal or if they perceived my husband's abuse over the years and excluded him from benefiting from their money.)


My husband has two different dementia diagnoses so I know the time will come that he will go to memory care. Can the inheritance from my parents to me and in my name only be required for payment for his memory care or will it strictly be based on his retirement and medicare income?

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Another thought, If your folks at 89 are still competent & cognitive, they could change the inheritance to be instead a “gen skip”, bypasses you and goes to your kids & perhaps puts you on as an administrator which pays you a smallish income to do this. Or they do a Testamentary Trust naming your kids as beneficiaries but you are the Trustee for and get paid by the Trust an income for administration till they are a certain age... like when kids turn 50.
Your income doesn’t count for his LTC Medicaid eligibility as long as it’s under a certain amount. The amount varies by state. Your atty will know what the figures are.
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graygrammie Apr 2020
I think my parents are looking out for me because they know that dh never considered our future. Since our kids have pretty much abandoned us because of him, I don't feel like this would be favorable.
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So it’s kinda that you know that your hubs will be needing some sort of facility in the near future, right?
if you are thinking that Medicaid will be able to be tapped into to pay for his care, there will be issues as Medicaid looks at the “assets” of both of you. Your married & by & large Medicaid looks at the total of whatever assets are both yours and his, even if it’s property you owned before you were married or inherited during your marriage. You as the community spouse can keep a certain amount of Liquid type of assets. Most states have this at abt 128k. So asset $ over that, has to get spent down first before he can be eligible (he can have 2k in assets). Home and a car are non exempt assets, so don’t figure into the 128k. But most states place a max limit on real property value. Like 550k for homes except for some which allow 750/800k.

BUT your “income” is not a factor for his LTC Medicaid eligibility.
Only his income is and only his income is required to go to the facility each month as the required under LTC Medicaid rules as his copay. Again, your income not included. There are ways to shift assets to become income to you. The best known is to do a SPIA, single premium immediate annuity. Personally I hate annuities as imo they have hefty commission structure and sold to the fearful. But a SPIA is a very special creature; especially good if your a younger wife or young enough to way outlive that NH needing spouse (it’s based on actuarial tables so your age matters). It’s speciality underwriting, CELA type of attorney do these as well as some Financial Advisors. Say Hubs needs SNF/NH, y’all have 300k house with mortgage, a car, and $250k in savings, he gets $ 1900 in SS a mo, you get $1900 SS as well. The spousal asset max is 128k, plus hubs is allowed 2k in assets; so thats 130k. 250 - 130 = $120k in assets that need to get spent down before he can be eligible.
BUT if you do a bit of planning & Before he ever applies for Medicaid, that $120k goes in full into a SPIA in your name and it pays out few hundred a month to you as income. The SPIA is yours, it’s your income stream. If your youngish, the SPIA will totally be paid out to you before you die. It’s not around to become an after your own death asset. Plus if between your own income and the SPIA income, you don’t have enough monthly income to afford the mortgage and your other costs for living in the community, especially if you have higher health expenses, then you can file for CSRA - Community Spouse Resource Allowance - which is $ deducted from his monthly copay to the NH. Think of CSRA as kinda like old school alimony. Really planning for couples is flat out not simple and needs to get done before ever being at the point of filing an application for hubs. Imho not ever a DIY, you need an atty.

Another possibility is your able to do a legal refusal to provide support, There are a couple of folks on this site, who have had their FIL do a spousal refusal for the NH wife, perhaps they can share their take on how that has gone.

Realistically all of this stuff really is not a DIY, you need to find an atty to go over what options best for you.
I’d suggest that you- only you - meet with the atty that did your folks paperwork or find a CELA level of elder law attorney to start planning now. Medicaid doesn’t expect the community spouse to themselves be impoverished. But imo what Medicaid views as sufficient $ for a CS is not realistic for what a CS needs for perhaps years or even decades of living on your own. 128k maybe fabulous for a 88 yr old CS; not at all enough for a 60 yr old spouse likely to live another 25 years. But just what to do for a CS and within regulations ok for Medicaid not a DIY.
Good luck.
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graygrammie Apr 2020
Okay, wow, that is a lot to take in. Our numbers are not that high right now -- dh doesn't get Social Security (federal gov't employee, out on disability since 1995), my social security after I start Medicare in a few months will be about $265 a month. Yeah, really. We just reversed mortgaged our house because dh refuses to sell. I cannot do anything without him with me, so talking to a lawyer alone will be impossible.
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Some states have laws that if a spouse inherits the other spouse is not entitled to it especially when divorcing. Its not a marital asset. You can ask Medicaid. If you do inherit, place it into a separate account. Don't comingle it with your shared account.

The company I worked for sent me my pension in one lump sum. I invested it into an IRA. Its in my name, my husband is beneficiary. I don't think Medicaid can touch that for husbands care. Maybe include it as part of my split as Community Spouse. Same with my husband, he has an IRA in his name, don't think Medicaid can touch it for me. An elder lawyer maybe able to clear it up.
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Alicew234 Apr 2020
In NY state, the IRA and 401ks were not considered assets as long as they were in payout status. (You have to take required minimum distributions.) The distributions were considered as income.

I think any money in the spouse's name- regardless of its origin- was considered to be an asset in the Medicaid determination. Then, the rules governing community spouses were applied in determining how much of it would have to be contributed to the Medicaid patient's care.

Really, it's so confusing. You can't make these decisions without talking to someone well versed in the rules in your state.
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Check with an elder law attorney. My guess is any inheritance for you would become 1/2 or hubby's in the eyes of Medicaid.
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You need to ask a lawyer who is familiar with the laws in your state. We found a number of lawyers who would meet with us and provide general information about estate planning for free. We were only charged for paperwork we agreed to have drawn up. The lawyer who put together your mom and dad's estate plans might be a good place to start.

In my experience, it is normal to have the inheritance go to the child and then, if the child predeceases the person writing the will, to their children in equal shares. That's the language I've seen most often in the wills I have looked at. (Which, admittedly, isn't that many wills!)
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