Elder Law Answers
Can My Mother Gift Her House to Me to Repay a Debt Without Jeopardizing Medicaid Benefits?
My mother has had financial issues for the past nine years. Over the course of that time, I have: loaned her money (that h...
Read moreCan My Mother Sell Her House and Buy a New House with Me and Still Be Eligible for Medicaid?
- August 27th, 2013
Q
I am hoping to buy a home and use some of the funds from the equity of my mother's home as down payment My mother would also live there and have her name on title. My question is this: Can she still receive Medicaid coverage and do the full funds of the home need to be transferred into a new primary residence for her? Also, will Medicaid try to recover the medical funds that have been used for her when her house is sold or upon her death?
A
The answer is that your mother can transfer her ownership in one property to another. She would have to use all of the proceeds if she wants to retain current eligibility for Medicaid. If your concern is for her future eligibility, then she would simply have to spend down any funds she retained before becoming eligible for benefits. Your mother's interest in the new property must reflect the amount she pays in. Your mother should not have to pay back for any benefits she may have received in the past when she sells her current house and the joint ownership with you in the new house should be able to be structured so as not to be subject to recovery by Medicaid upon her death. All of that said, this will only work if properly structured. Don't move ahead without consulting with a local elder law attorney.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
Bethesda, MD
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Loretta Williams
Hale Ball Carlson Baumgartner Murphy PLC
Loretta Morris Williams is a certified elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Ms. Williams was admitted to the Council of Advanced Practitioners, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) in 2012. She serves as President of the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Ms. Willia...
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Jean Ball
Hale Ball Carlson Baumgartner Murphy PLC
Jean Galloway Ball is certified in Elder Law by the National Elder Law Foundation. She is a 1977 honors graduate of the National Law Center, George Washington University, and she did her undergraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1971. She is admitted to practice in Vir...
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Meet Jeffrey Hammond
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Jeffrey Hammond
Hammond and Associates, LLC, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Probate
For Jeffrey Hammond, the practice of Elder Law is personal. Jeff’s many years of experience in law and in business did not prepare him for the crisis he faced in 2005 and 2006 when his father suffered a stroke and both of his parents suffered from dementia and other medical problems. At that time, Jeff began an i...
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