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Medicaid Estate Recovery

Nita — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:42:32 GMT

My Dad passed away from a long term illness in Dec. 2004. I stayed with my Mom to help care for him for several years. My parents had deeded my siblings lots next to them when they married years ago. I became disabled around the same time my Dad passed away. After Daddy's death she deeded me the home place, the remaining lot. She kept a life time estate in it.

My Mom started getting sick last year. My siblings and I kept a watch on her and helped her. A few weeks ago she got a bad infection that sent her into an end stage Alzheimer's. She is having painful muscle contractions and couldn't move. She stayed in the hospital for over a week. The infection cleared up, but she needed around the clock care. I don't know how long she will be in the nursing home. When Medicaid has to kick in will I loose my inheritance? Is the property protected. It has been in my family for years. It isn't worth much compared to most, probably around 50,000, but my Daddy worked hard for it and I am not sure if it is protected. She transferred it before the look back period changed, but she does have a life estate in it. Me and my 2 siblings all have power of attorney. Can anyone give me any advice? This is all so hard and confusing. It was hard enough going through the illness with Dad, but now my Mom and this. Any information is appreciated.~

Thank you

Nita, Kentucky

Cost of Estate Planning Corrected

TFGOne — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:22:50 GMT

What is a reasonable range for the cost of estate planning by an eldercare attorney to include the medicaid research and application process, penalty calculation and the establishment of two trusts; one to fund the medicaid penalty and the other for the remaining of the gifted amount?

Life Estate and Need mediciad for nursing home

jlarnai — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:58:44 GMT

We live in NJ. My dad broke his hip from a car accident; went through therapy and walking again, came home to his house and fell down his steps and broke it again. His house had too many steps so he could no longer live there, We sold my Dad's house; used the money as a downpayment on our new ranch style house; for myself, my wife and my dad. We went though a eldercare lawyer and they created the deed stating mine and my wifes name; and my dad's name with a life estate. My name is the only name on the mortgage. My Dad lived with us for 1 year and 4 months; his dementia has really increased and we had to put him in a nursing home. We are applying him for medicaid..

The 2005 DRA that President Bush signed states:
(d) INCLUSION OF TRANSFERS TO PURCHASE LIFE ESTATES.—
Section 1917(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396p(c)(1)), as amended by subsection (c), is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(J) For purposes of this paragraph with respect to a transfer of assets, the term ‘assets’ includes the purchase of a life estate interest in another individual’s home unless the purchaser resides in the home for a period of at least 1 year after the date of the purchase.’’.

We applied my dad for Medicaid about a month ago; and still no word.

Has anybody used a Life Estate before? I know that they use the life expentency table with the life estate,

Any ideas on how medicaid will treat the life estate?

Thanks!

Mom tries to apply for medicaid for husband

bluefin45 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:20:42 GMT

My mother and I went to medicaid office to apply on Dads behalf, After giving the lady all the needed information she needed she informed mom that she would have to spend down assets. This she has been doing for the last two years at about $85,000. a year. The only thing that dad has in his name is a checking account, into which goes his social security check. My mom has a checking account, savings account, a CD, an IRA and a promissory note from stock she was forced to sell back to the company she worked for. This company made all retired employees sell their stock and issued them promissory notes. Mom gets about $2700 a quarter as interest payments and the balance of the note would be paid in 2012. Anyway the only names on moms accounts are hers and mine, the medicaid person has listed the accounts as belonging to Both, that would be dad and her. Can that be right? The medicaid person also included the promissory note as a resourse. How can she do that when it won't pay final till 2012? She is including the whold value of the note as far as i can see. Not a friendly person to say the least.

waters7

Medicaid and Gifting money

MarkG — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:21:06 GMT

My parents went into assisted living in January 08. My Dad fell and spent the last 6 weeks in skilled nursing and has another approx. 2 weeks before he returns to assisted with my mom. They have approx $350,000 left in retirement fund but last month month bills for both places were about $13,000. If they gift $150,000 to the kids this year when will the money really be safe? December 2013? Does the size of the gift matter? Does the look back period begin when you apply for medicaid? Thanks for any help.

transfers

ebhubb — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:59:36 GMT

We transfered money from joint account of myself and father in November of 2005. Until Feb. 8 of 2006 the lookback period was 3 years from date of transfer. This new law extends the lookback period to 5 years. I think it is called DRA. Since the transfer was before Feb 8, 2006 I'm wondering if medicaid will even look at the transfer if we put him in nursing home after Dec. 1 of 2008. We live in Ohio.

Question re: Medicaid estate recovery

cockateils — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:50:16 GMT

If, after spending down my mom's money, she gets accepted and is on medicaid why, after she passes on, would medicaid come back and try to get money recovered - she was already evaluated and accepted - seems very unfair - what are they looking for that they didn't find prior to the person getting accepted on medicaid?

Half a loaf planning

Robert — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:43:04 GMT

with the new DRA laws going into effect wheh should hal a loaf planning be done befoe or after one applies for Medicaid?

Medicaid looking to recover money!

Greg — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:54:53 GMT

In NYC. Medicaid has invoiced community spouse for payments that they previously made for Nursing Home spouse that has passed. Comm spouse did spousal refusal as CS was over the allowable resources/assets. Can the city actually do that?? We were told that they may not try to recover some of the costs. Can they seize bank account assets relatively easily?? Or seize SSI monthly income of spouse? What can one do about it? The amount they are looking for seems quite a bit high. Does anyone know how the NYC HRA dept works in terms of trying to recoup the monies? Will they really file a law suit against an elderly comm spouse? Will they settle for less, perhaps a percentage of what they are asking for? If so, any idea as to how much? Any HELP would be Greatly Appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

Cash gifting

SnapdragonFQ — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:10:38 GMT

Recently my 81 year old dad suffered a series of medical issues that are going to lead to LTC in the next 6 weeks or so. My mom is quite active and healthy for an 80 year old and still lives in their mobilehome. My parents have been financially responsible all of their lives, have about $100,000 in liquid assets and an older mobilehome worth about $45,000. However this savings won't last long at $6200/month and so we are going to meet with the local Medicaid office next week.

I understand the 5 year look-back period and am very concerned that the cash gifts my parents gave long before any health issues came up are now going to come back to haunt us. For example, my parents gave me $3,000 in 2004 to help me pay for my divorce. In 2007 they lent a grandson $8,000 for a new vehicle. He has paid some of that back, but there is nothing in writing. And since my divorce they have given me $100/month; I think they wanted to be helpful in a way that was meaningful to them. Not to mention all of the holiday, birthday, and wedding gifts they gave in the form of cash instead of shopping (my mom HATES to shop). Our elder law attorney thought that the smaller gifts wouldn't be issues, but I'm really worried. And my poor mom is becoming a wreck over all of this.

Also, should the grandson and I get personal loans to repay the gifts?

None of us EVER thought about this scenario......thank you for any advice/suggestions.

Revocable Trust and Medicaid

KatiefromKS — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:13:21 GMT

Well, we tried to foresee the future and placed all of my 93 year old grandmother's assets in a revocable trust (including her home) with my mother and myself as beneficiaries back when she was 80. She was listed as the trustee because at the time, she was in perfect health and no one anticipated her needing to go to a nursing home.

I have made an appointment this week with an elder care attorney and he explained that the home would have been transferable had we not placed it into the trust since my mom has lived with her the past several years taking care of her. But since grandmother is the trustee, it will more than likely not be transferable. Is there anything I can do? Not only will I have a grandmother who is not doing well with the idea of a nursing home but I will also have a homeless mother who has just turned 66. Grandmother is currently in the hospital (already in her 7th day of the 20 medicare is allowing) and they want her in a nursing home by this Friday. I feel like we have really painted ourselves into a corner with only the window to throw ourselves out of. Anyone with knowledge of this type of situation is greatly appreciated.

Medicaid income trust

louise2 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:52:53 GMT

My mother may require nursing home care in the next five years, requiring her to "spend down" and lose everything (including some farm land that has been in the family a long time). An elder law attorney suggests that she can create some kind of trust (medicaid income trust?) that will protect the land and possibly other assets such as an annuity, CDs, etc-- if these assets are transferred to the trust prior to the 5 year look back period. In other words, she would need to pay for care until the 5 year period has passed. But might be able to save the land.

He would charge $6500 in fees to do the necessary paperwork and planning. Does this trust sound legal and effetive? If legal/effective, does his fee sound reasonable? Thanks for any advice you can give me as my mother's POA!

Protecting assets -- help!!

BGScott — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:01:46 GMT

My mother is 88 and will be going to a nursing home soon. She has no real estate but about $40,000 in a CD and checking account which we will use to pay the nursing home expenses as long as it will last. She also has another CD and checking account with a total of about $30,000 which was left to her about 6 years ago by her widowed sister for the purpose of taking care of the needs of the sister’s mentally-disabled daughter, Jean, who is now 63 years old. Jean (my mother’s niece) has no siblings. She lives in a group home and is receiving Medicaid and SSI benefits. The funds in question were meant to buy her clothes, shoes, craft supplies and anything else she needs that is not provided under Medicaid and SSI. My mother has not been granted guardianship of Jean by the court but Jean’s mother did provide a letter directing that her sister (my mother) have authority to make decisions regarding Jean’s care.

The question: Is there anything we can do to protect the funds that had been left for Jean’s care after Mother’s $40,000 is depleted?

Senior Care Advocates

PeterS. — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:10:41 GMT

If you live in California, beware about doing business with James Walker and Senior Care Advocates. There are other lawyers that will provide you with the same services for 1/5th of the cost and they will undoubtedly treat you better, especially if you are a veteran. My family and I had a terrible experience with them. If you do decide to business with them, good luck.

Life Insurance Policy

cmpkep — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:45:26 GMT

My 83 year old mother was recently advised to "get rid of" her $10,000 life insurance policy.This would apparantly be taken from her in the event she would need to be placed in a nursing home. I can't imagine this policy has much of a cash value. I am new to all of this and I have never heard of such a thing!

How can the home take this money and who would pay for her funeral expenses? What is a funeral trust?

SNF/Medicaid/401K help!

awesomegirl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:23:56 GMT

My Mom is 60 yrs old, had a stroke and is in the hospital. She has NOTHING with the exception of her 401K which is over 10K in value.

To be eligible for medicaid it has to be spent down, but here's what I want to do:

I want to find a facility, apply for medicaid and have it be retroactive to cover the costs of the facility.

In the meantime, can I use the 401k for her therapy costs? I figure once the medicaid kicks in the 401K will have already been spent. But can medicaid be denied because she had those assets in the first place even though they will be gone?

Please help. I want to do the best thing with the money in terms of my mother's care but don't want ramifications later that would put her in jeopardy.:w00t:

medicaid planning

winter53 — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:28:42 GMT

I live in NYC and am in the process of applying for homecare Medicaid for my mom, i have retained an eldercare attorney and he is in the process of setting up a life estate. She owns 2 homes in Florida and one in NYC which is our primary residence. Are there any financial ramifications for me if my name is included on the deed for these properties. I was also advised to set up a community pool to safe guard her income(social security disability and private disability payments) Exactly what is a community pool and how does it work.

Medicaid spend down and life insurance policies

janb — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:55:40 GMT

Father in Nursing Home in NC. I live in Louisiana. Have had to travel several times to NC to handle legal affairs,, close Dad's home and move all items,look for nursing home, get father settled in nursing home etc. The trip was definitely not for vacation purposes and was strictly to take care of father's care. Can plane tickets, hotel expenses, car rental and gas expenditures while in NC meet the spend down requirements. Medicaid office tells me no, but the nursing home told me that I should keep all receipts etc and that these could be used in spend down. Is there any legal rule that I could show to the Medicaid office so that these items will be covered. I would prefer not to have to pay these items out of pocket. Legally do I have any recourse here?

Also, Dad has 3 whole life insurance policies totaling face value of ~15,000 and cash value of close to same. My understanding in NC,is that if the TOTAL value is over $10,000 the life insurance policies are not exempt and must be cashed in to pay for nursing home care prior to Medicaid eligibility. Would it be possible to cash two of the policies in to coer the care. The remaining policty would be worth less than $10,000 and then would it be considered exempt. I guess I am just trying to protect some of those life insruance benefits. It is such a shame that these must be paid to a nursing home.

my mom is in a nursing home , has a reversed mortgage and is on medicaid

sammy50 — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:32:40 GMT

I just needed to get some info. I am getting all kinds of stories. My mom is in a nursing home recovering from a massive stroke back in august 2006. At the time of her stroke she had a reversed mortgage on her home. She is currently on medicaid. I needed to find out if it is possible for her to put her home in my name. ( i do have power of attorney). I have asked some people some say yes, and some say no. I was hoping to get a straight answer. thanks any info on this would be appreciated.

Payable on death medicaid rules

J.R. — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:30:10 GMT

My question is this: What happens when a spouse makes all their assets POD to a child and dies before the other spouse enters a NH and applies for Medicaid.

I understand that POD is really just naming a person beneficiary and they do not take control until the person who named them POD actually dies, but what if one spouse does just that, then dies, the money would all go to the child and the spouse left at home had to be placed in a NH.

Seems to me that the Medicaid office would look at this as though a transfer had been made,would they or would they not. if it had not been 5 years. If they look at what both spouses had it would seem this would be logical.

Thank you

Medicaid and inheritence

Cathy924 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:05:05 GMT

My mother is currently on Medicaid. She has alzheimer. We have been informed that she will be receiving a inheritance from a pasted family member. How does this work with Medicaid? I know that she will no longer will be eligiabe for Medicaid. But what happens with this money?? Do they have the right to monitar her money. Tell us how this money can be use?

Revocable Trust created with POD CD

J.R. — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:22:13 GMT

When a person opens a bank CD and designates a POD beneficiary, I know that this is considered a revocable Trust. Is this type trust considered an asset transfer if applying for Medicaid Long Term Care.

If I list my daughter as POD on my Bank Certificate and not my husband, then am I considered to be in a penalty period with that designation???

HELP PLEASE

Community Spouse's Mortgage

Ellen M — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:44:18 GMT

My husband has Alzheimers and qualified for Medicaid this past year. I went through a horrific spend down of all the savings we had spent a life time accumulating. Upon his being deemed eligible, I was notified by the Eldercare attorney that I could sell our home without affecting my husband's eligibility. Unfortunately, with conditions the way they are, there are no buyers. I have been driving over 100 miles a day to see my husband in the nursing home. I wanted to purchase a small, inexpensive fixer upper, a few blocks from the nursing home by taking out a mortgage in my name only while waiting for my house to sell. This would allow me to be near my husband, save mileage and gas costs, and hopefully make the house easier to sell (according to the realtor.) The lender agreed and approved my mortgage application with my name listed as sole borrower on all the forms, but when I went to closing, insisted that I sign for my husband as agent on the two deed documents because I live in Texas, a community property state. Now, it appears, that because I did this, my husband will be disqualified from Medicaid. I'm very upset and worried and don't know what do about this dilemma nor do I know if anything can be done to rectify my mistake. I am fearful of losing my home, the mortgage, and of course, my husband's Medicaid as well as the few remaining assets I still have - which are minimal.

Community Spouse Right of Refusal

magdalena — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:21:42 GMT

Hello,
When the Nursing Home said I needed to fill out forms to apply for Medicaid for my husband as HIP was no longer going to cover him they never informed me that I had the right of spousal refusal. We both lived in NYS..He has since passed away.

Medicaid started covering him towards the end of June, all July and 2 weeks in August. They have now billed me for three [b]full[/b] months..close to $3,600. I am now being called by a collection agency.

I don't understand how this works..We both received pensions and he in addition SS and a small Army compensation. We did not have any savings, had a 20 year old car, no land, no property of any kind. I still rent an apartment, never owned a home. We never had and I still don't have any assets of any kind. Yet I see that you are allowed to keep so much in assets. Why don't they take into consideration when you have nothing in assets of any kind.

What I do have is debt..from the funeral, and credit cards totaling close to $9,000. What can I do? Am I stuck with this bill?

Magdalena

joint account, medicaid, greedy landlord

thereallinda — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:31:28 GMT

My dad just entered a nursing home and due to his dementia, it's obvious that he will be staying long-term. Ten or eleven years ago, when he first got sick, he put me on his checking account, made me POA. We sold his house and moved him to a small apartment nearby. I had to co-sign the lease for him. I have been taking care of his bills, taking him to doctors appointments, doing his laundry, cleaning, buying food, etc. I've never used any of the money from his account for anything other than his needs.
So that's the background...

The lease required 90 days notice before the end of the year to vacate. The lease automatically turned over June 30, 2008 but he only got sick in May. Needless to say, we weren't able to give 90 days notice. The landlord is holding me to the entire years rent.

I was advised by the nursing home and a lawyer that half the checking account money is mine since it's been a joint account since 97. I took half the money and put it in a single account to protect myself from the landlord's demands for rent. The county caseworker told me that the money is not mine, that I have to return it to Dad's account and it's not their problem that I have to pay his rent for a year. This prompted my (real estate) lawyer to tell me not to take my legal advice from a welfare worker.

So now, I'm not sure what I must do. If I keep the money to pay the rent, will the nursing home evict him? He can't do anything on his own and he is basically homeless as the apartment has been emptied and the keys returned to the greedy landlord. He can't stay with me because we don't have the resources to offer him 24 hour care.

I have no idea what to do. I have been made to assume all the responsibility for his debt but am being told I am not entitled to any of the resources. I am extremely distressed and need to know if I have any rights or recourse.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

State of Georgia: countability of Community Spouse retirement assets

kim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:28:31 GMT

Understand that if Medicaid applicant is married, many states do not count the retirement assets of the community spouse. Is Georgia one of those states?

Trying to understand

Lorias1228 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:55:29 GMT

Currently, my father is living at home and cared for by myself and my mother. But my mother is panic stricken about the what ifs of Nursing home care and the community spouse.

My parents still owe 94,000 on their home. Both are retired teachers. My mother is afraid that if my father ends up in a nursing home she won't be left with enough to keep the house and enough to live on. She also refuses to contact elderlaw because it costs too much when she's afraid of spending a dime.

We live in Indiana. Does her retirement count against Medicaid and I'm lost at understanding community spouse pay so my mother isn't impoverished. Can anyone help me, help her?

Oh, I am also on SSDI myself so I think there is some recourse there too but I neither understand enough to direct her nor can I afford legal assistance.