Now is the time to talk to an elder law attorney who practices in your area.
If your mother's physician is able to certify that you have cared for your mother for two years, and the care you provided has saved her from an earlier nursing home admission, the house transfer could be covered by the "caregiver child" exception, protecting your mother's eligibility for Medicaid if it is needed to pay for nursing home care.
But there are regulations, details and timing factors that must be considered. Example: your mother can't claim the caregiver child exception for the house if she first moves to assisted living and then to a nursing home. And if her level of care before the stroke didn't require your live in assistance, then the years leading up to the stroke probably won't count toward the 2 years that are required. The elder law attorney can guide you to the best approach, based on the care needs and assessments of your mother's physicians and discharge planners.
Your family dynamics, such as sibling relationships mentioned by others who responded to your question today, are equally important. The elder law attorney can give you an objective view of all the things you need to consider, before a decision is made to transfer the real estate.
If mom is going to need to apply to Medicaid to pay for the NH, she cannot simply sign over the house to you as it would be considered "gifting" of an asset and a transfer penalty placed against mom for the $ amount of the last tax assessor value of house. BUT if you provided caregiving for mom for at least 2years that kept mom out of a N.h and off of Medicaid, yiu can request an exemption to get the house.
Now just how the exemption needs to be done will depend on your states' Medicaid program. It's a ? to ask the caseworker. Personally I think you need an atty in all this both to shepherd the caregiver exemption AND do a deed of trust on the property all correct & legal to place on the property & file at the courthouse.
It's too late for mom to do a Quit Claim as anything involving Medicaid would have needed to be filed and recorded prior to June 2011.
Are you aware of moms copay aka her SOC (share of cost) of her monthly income requirement by medicaid? The SOC requires that basically all of moms $ must be paid to the NH. She only gets a small personal needs allowance (most states have this at $60 a mo). Mom will have no-nada-nothing $ anymore to pay on the house. All costs on the house from day 1 of moms medicaid application must be paid by you or other family members to keep the house going & paying insurance, utkities, taxes, etc. I'd try to put pen to paper ASAP to see the situation on household finances. Sometimes family end up moving the elder back home & continuing to caregive for free as moms income is needed to keep household afloat. A most difficult & stressful situation and not ideal for everbody involved but sometimes is the only way to balance out needs of a caregiver who finds themselves low income after a decade of free caregiving and a mom with solid, guaranteed income.
BTW, the home has to be the caregiving child's primary residence and if they had a job while doing the caregiving, there is a lot of difficulty qualifying. One can't work and be a FT caregiver, so it can automatically disqualify. Very difficult, since it is saying the person has to have put themselves in the way of poverty in order to qualify to keep the house.
When I think of these things it makes me wish we had good quality elder care at affordable prices. It is like all the middle-class resources are being vacuumed off at the end of life.
Go to you area council on aging for an elder care lawyer. If your mother needs to go on Medicaid you could make her ineligible if you don't follow the law. Beware, not all lawyers are knowledgeable about Medicaid. I handled my FIL's Medicaid application and, now that we are settling his estate we've discovered that I know more about the Medicaid process and requirements than the lawyer; which he freely admits.
I am in the throws of the Medicaid process and transferring the house. I qualified under the caregiver child exemption to receive the house. This can stir up ill will in the family. My suggestion is get an attorney that specializes in elder law. He/she can advise you through the process. It can be an emotional time too for you. Caregiving doesn't stop when a parent enters a nursing home. You still need to be an advocate.
Yes, if you have siblings they will come out of the woodwork. You provided free care for your mom and they will still want their inheritance. Sibs think of the care you provided paid for since you most likely did not pay rent or other expenses while living there. They do not stop to think that care at home by someone else would costin the area of 10K a month,perhaps more. A memory care in the area of 6K a month. Nursing home about 12K a month. You need an attorney that specializes in Medicaid Planning. That can be on mom's dollar as you are doing the planning for her. Do you have mom's POA's? That piece is very important, but be very careful that you do not forget actions under POA must always be in Mom's best interest.
The situation with my twisted sisters became very ugly and their vindictiveness reigned. I did not get the house, but I did receive payment for three years of the care I provided through a court order, an action brought by the TS's trying to accuse me of financial exploitation. One of TS had mom's POA's and she KNEW there was no exploitation of any sort occuring. She spent a whole wad of moms money on attorneys. When the time comes, I will attempt to have the court award the estate the money spent by the twisteds for attorneys to protect their inheritance. For now everything that remains should be spent for mom's care.
There is a special provision for Medicaid penalty-free transfer of a residence to a qualifying caregiving child. You have to be very careful with this, however. I wouldn't consider house transfer a DIY project. Hiring someone who knows what they are doing would be worth the money. One thing I don't know are the tax consequences for transfer while your mother is still alive. I don't not know if the basis of the house would be what your parents paid or the appraisal value is at the time of transfer. I would check into that. If you inherit the house after your mother passes, then the basis of the house will be the appraised value when you inherited it. If you transfer the title, then it is the price your parents paid. This will have large capital gains tax implications should you decide to sell the house. It is worth your time to find out the right answer. Maybe someone here knows.
Sweetie, I hope your mom is okay, I've seen a lot of people have strokes and bounce back. Everytime, I'm in awe of the human body and it's ability to heal itself with a little physical therapy. You need to speak with a good attorney. You need to get a pen in your mother's hand and have her sign her name to all the paperwork your attorney provides ASAP. If you are an only child, this will be easy. If you have siblings (even if you haven't seen them in 14 years) they will pop out of no where for a battle, believe me! Did your mom need care for 14 years? ...or did you? My brother moved into my mom's house after my dad died, and it was not for my mom's benefit, but his. Why do you want her house? I would sell it and put the money into the best care possible for your mom or maybe she has money for full time care in her home. If you are concerned about your own security and want that house, that is wrong! Are you an only child? Everything depends on that fact...
debdaughter, there are strict rules on qualifying. I know that the caregiving child has to have lived at the residence at least two years before a NH was needed. It has to be shown that the child was a full-time caregiver and him/her being there allowed the elder to avoid the NH during that time. I do not know if there is any mention if the child was paid or not. I wouldn't be surprised if there is, since even when MERP recovery is being done, the value of caregiver service is considered in what the state takes and what it allows the caregiving heir to keep. If the child was being paid, it would make a difference with MERP. I would only trust someone who is knowledgeable about Medicaid for my state to tell me what is best to do.
I didn't realize mom was on Medicaid. I tried to take the name of my step-son's mother off the Deed in CO, and put him on it since he is living with her in the house. However, this was blocked by Medicaid who wants pay-back when she dies for all the care they have provided. A real estate attorney with Medicaid knowledge would be in order. Ours was not complicated as I mentioned earlier.
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If your mother's physician is able to certify that you have cared for your mother for two years, and the care you provided has saved her from an earlier nursing home admission, the house transfer could be covered by the "caregiver child" exception, protecting your mother's eligibility for Medicaid if it is needed to pay for nursing home care.
But there are regulations, details and timing factors that must be considered. Example: your mother can't claim the caregiver child exception for the house if she first moves to assisted living and then to a nursing home. And if her level of care before the stroke didn't require your live in assistance, then the years leading up to the stroke probably won't count toward the 2 years that are required. The elder law attorney can guide you to the best approach, based on the care needs and assessments of your mother's physicians and discharge planners.
Your family dynamics, such as sibling relationships mentioned by others who responded to your question today, are equally important. The elder law attorney can give you an objective view of all the things you need to consider, before a decision is made to transfer the real estate.
Now just how the exemption needs to be done will depend on your states' Medicaid program. It's a ? to ask the caseworker. Personally I think you need an atty in all this both to shepherd the caregiver exemption AND do a deed of trust on the property all correct & legal to place on the property & file at the courthouse.
It's too late for mom to do a Quit Claim as anything involving Medicaid would have needed to be filed and recorded prior to June 2011.
Are you aware of moms copay aka her SOC (share of cost) of her monthly income requirement by medicaid? The SOC requires that basically all of moms $ must be paid to the NH. She only gets a small personal needs allowance (most states have this at $60 a mo). Mom will have no-nada-nothing $ anymore to pay on the house. All costs on the house from day 1 of moms medicaid application must be paid by you or other family members to keep the house going & paying insurance, utkities, taxes, etc. I'd try to put pen to paper ASAP to see the situation on household finances. Sometimes family end up moving the elder back home & continuing to caregive for free as moms income is needed to keep household afloat. A most difficult & stressful situation and not ideal for everbody involved but sometimes is the only way to balance out needs of a caregiver who finds themselves low income after a decade of free caregiving and a mom with solid, guaranteed income.
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When I think of these things it makes me wish we had good quality elder care at affordable prices. It is like all the middle-class resources are being vacuumed off at the end of life.
The situation with my twisted sisters became very ugly and their vindictiveness reigned. I did not get the house, but I did receive payment for three years of the care I provided through a court order, an action brought by the TS's trying to accuse me of financial exploitation. One of TS had mom's POA's and she KNEW there was no exploitation of any sort occuring. She spent a whole wad of moms money on attorneys. When the time comes, I will attempt to have the court award the estate the money spent by the twisteds for attorneys to protect their inheritance. For now everything that remains should be spent for mom's care.
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