Search Articles

Find Attorneys

Questions & Answers

What Legal Documents Do We Need When Dad Moves In?

My father-in-law is 91 years old, has dementia, and is diabetic. Due to his health care needs, his wife (my husband's stepmother) can no longer take care of him and wants my husband and his brother help care for him...

Read more
  • Categories:
  • senior living
  • |
  • estate planning

Will Medicaid Take Mom's Life Insurance From Me?

My mom had to apply for Medicaid to pay for long-term care after a stroke. I'm the beneficiary on her term life insurance policy, not the estate. Will Medicaid take her life insurance from me when she passes?...

Read more
  • Categories:
  • Medicaid
  • |
  • estate recovery

If My Mom Was a Victim of Undue Influence, What Do I Do?

I recently moved in with my mom after my brother passed away. She is blind with the exception of a part of her periphery and has had several falls. She is forgetful sometimes and cannot cook or clean. She is...

Read more
  • Categories:
  • POA
  • |
  • power of attorney
  • |
  • guardianship/conservatorship

I Inherited Property. Will I Pay Capital Gains Tax?

Mom passed and her house was sold. Five of us inherited the house. It was sold and split five ways. I received $36,000 for that sale. Do I have to pay property gains taxes in West Virginia?...

Read more
  • Categories:
  • capital gains
  • |
  • step-up
  • |
  • inheritance

Get answers to your long-term care
and estate planning issues.


Filter by category

Ask a Question

Ask us a question and we'll respond if possible. We receive a large number of questions and are unable to answer every one. But if you don't hear back, many questions, particularly those involving Medicaid law, are best answered by a local elder law attorney. To find a qualified elder law attorney near you, click here.

I understand that ElderLawAnswers is not a law firm and in contacting ElderLawAnswers I am not creating an attorney-client relationship or receiving legal advice. Any question I submit will not be treated as privileged or confidential and may be posted along with its response on www.elderlawanswers.com so others, with similar issues, can benefit from the response. However, my name, e-mail and city will not be posted or made public in association with the posted question and response. I understand that ElderLawAnswers may not respond to my question at all and if it does it will do so in a general matter on which I cannot rely. If I want a specific legal response and guidance, I will seek independent legal counsel from an attorney duly licensed in my state.

We never share or sell your information
Medicaid 101
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

READ MORE
How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

READ MORE
Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

READ MORE
What Medicaid Covers

In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Coverage in your state may depend on waivers of federal rules.

READ MORE
How to Qualify for Medicaid

To be eligible for Medicaid long-term care, recipients must have limited incomes and no more than $2,000 (in most states). Special rules apply for the home and other assets.

READ MORE
Medicaid’s Protections for Spouses

Spouses of Medicaid nursing home residents have special protections to keep them from becoming impoverished.

READ MORE
Medicaid Planning Strategies

Careful planning for potentially devastating long-term care costs can help protect your estate, whether for your spouse or for your children.

READ MORE
Estate Recovery: Can Medicaid Take My House After I’m Gone?

If steps aren't taken to protect the Medicaid recipient's house from the state’s attempts to recover benefits paid, the house may need to be sold.

READ MORE
Help Qualifying and Paying for Medicaid, Or Avoiding Nursing Home Care

There are ways to handle excess income or assets and still qualify for Medicaid long-term care, and programs that deliver care at home rather than in a nursing home.

READ MORE
Are Adult Children Responsible for Their Parents’ Care?

Most states have laws on the books making adult children responsible if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves.

READ MORE
Applying for Medicaid

Applying for Medicaid is a highly technical and complex process, and bad advice can actually make it more difficult to qualify for benefits.

READ MORE
Alternatives to Medicaid

Medicare's coverage of nursing home care is quite limited. For those who can afford it and who can qualify for coverage, long-term care insurance is the best alternative to Medicaid.

READ MORE
SEE MORE

Most Recent Medicaid Articles

Medicaid Spend Down: Pay for More Than Just Medical Bills
2024 Standard Protections for Spouses of Medicaid Applicants
Bill Advocates for Seniors Who Seek At-Home Medicaid Care
image/svg+xml
image/svg+xml
image/svg+xml
ElderLaw 101
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

READ MORE
Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

READ MORE
Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

READ MORE
Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

READ MORE
Estate Planning

Distinguish the key concepts in estate planning, including the will, the trust, probate, the power of attorney, and how to avoid estate taxes.

READ MORE
Grandchildren

Learn about grandparents’ visitation rights and how to avoid tax and public benefit issues when making gifts to grandchildren.

READ MORE
Guardianship/Conservatorship

Understand when and how a court appoints a guardian or conservator for an adult who becomes incapacitated, and how to avoid guardianship.

READ MORE
Health Care Decisions

We need to plan for the possibility that we will become unable to make our own medical decisions. This may take the form of a health care proxy, a medical directive, a living will, or a combination of these.

READ MORE
Long-Term Care Insurance

Understand the ins and outs of insurance to cover the high cost of nursing home care, including when to buy it, how much to buy, and which spouse should get the coverage.

READ MORE
Medicare

Learn who qualifies for Medicare, what the program covers, all about Medicare Advantage, and how to supplement Medicare’s coverage.

READ MORE
Retirement Planning

We explain the five phases of retirement planning, the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA, types of investments, asset diversification, the required minimum distribution rules, and more.

READ MORE
Senior Living

Find out how to choose a nursing home or assisted living facility, when to fight a discharge, the rights of nursing home residents, all about reverse mortgages, and more.

READ MORE
Social Security

Get a solid grounding in Social Security, including who is eligible, how to apply, spousal benefits, the taxation of benefits, how work affects payments, and SSDI and SSI.

READ MORE
Special Needs Planning

Learn how a special needs trust can preserve assets for a person with disabilities without jeopardizing Medicaid and SSI, and how to plan for when caregivers are gone.

READ MORE
Veterans Benefits

Explore benefits for older veterans, including the VA’s disability pension benefit, aid and attendance, and long-term care coverage for veterans and surviving spouses.

READ MORE
SEE MORE

Most Recent ElderLaw Articles

Will All Dad's Income Have to Go to the Nursing Facility?
Can Estate Recovery Be Stopped Very Late in the Process?
Should Mom's Old Nursing Home Keep Her Social Security?
image/svg+xml
image/svg+xml
image/svg+xml