Elder Law Answers
What Are the House Ownership Options When Parents and Adult Children Live Together?
Increasingly, several generations of American families are living together. These multi-generational living arrangements p...
Read moreWhat Are the Medicaid Implications of Sheltering an Alzheimer's Victim's Savings in a Separate Account?
- August 27th, 2013
Q
In the case of an elder diagnosed with Alzheimer's, is it acceptable to transfer their savings into a separate account with the names of their children to safeguard the funds? The concern is the possibility of the elder with Alzheimer's having access to withdraw and/or gift the funds without realizing the consequences. Can the funds be maintained in this separate account and only withdrawn and transfered to the elder's normal account for paying their bills, personal needs, care, etc.? If the time should come for nursing home care and Medicaid application, and trackable documented transactions are maintained showing the funds were used for the elder's needs, would the full original transfered amount be considered available funds when determining Medicaid eligibility, or would it be the balance remaining in the account?
A
What you describe should work as long as you are able to document every cent. Otherwise the senior can be deemed ineligible for Medicaid benefits until the nursing home costs equal the amount transferred. The way this works is that Medicaid creates a period of ineligibility for benefits for a period of time based on the amount transferred. If you can show that the funds transferred were used for the elder, they will be deemed as having been returned and as if they had never been gifted in the first place. But the burden of proof is on you.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Meet Ron Landsman
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Ron Landsman
Ron M. Landsman, P.A.
Ron M. Landsman has been practicing elder law since 1983, before it was known as elder law, originally with Landsman and Laster, Washington, D.C., then Landsman, Eakes and Laster, also in Arlington, VA, and since 1990 in his own practice in Montgomery County, Maryland. He has been among the most active members of the...
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Meet William Fralin
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William Fralin
The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm PC
Bill founded The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm, P.C. in 1994. Bill limits his practice to the areas of estate planning and administration, incapacity planning, Medicaid, asset protection planning, and elder law. He is one of (15) fifteen attorneys practicing in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, ce...
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Meet Loretta Williams
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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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