Is There Any Way Mom Can Inherit Money Without Losing Medicaid?

My 85-year-old mother lives in Iowa and is in assisted living and on Medicaid after a major stroke four years ago. She has been a widow raising seven children alone since 1966, and has never had any money to speak of in all that time. Her brother recently passed away and left her and her sisters money. It is an amount Mom cannot spend within a month. She does not need anything for her apartment or herself and she cannot travel.  She has paid for her funeral arrangements, etc. What can she do so she doesn't lose her Medicaid? 

There are a few possibilities. In some states, your mother could transfer her funds to a so-called “(d)(4)(C)” or “pooled disability” trust. Here’s a link to a list of such trusts that may be of help.  It lists four pooled disability trusts in Iowa. If this option is not available in Iowa – it depends on how the state applies its Medicaid rules – your mother could transfer the excess funds into trust for any disabled individual under age 65. If no one in your family fits this category, the final option would be to pay the funds to the assisted living facility. An Iowa elder law attorney would be able to advise your family on whether and how all of these alternatives work in your state.

For more about pooled trusts, click here.

For more aboout Medicaid's asset rules, click here.