Hi–
Here is a page for you to ask general questions. I will respond publicly, so keep your private info private. A client-attorney relationship will be established only when we both have signed an engagement letter.
What question is on your mind and heart?
:- Doug.
What can protect an elderly parents assets, i.e., property, savings, etc from the expenses of a nursing home or end of life expenses? A trust? Or, can assets be transferred to family members before the need arises and then let medicare and medicaid cover the expenses? Thank you.
Beth–
Thank you for asking this question. It is something on a lot of people’s minds and hearts when they are caring for their parents. It can be a big worry.
Your parents’ situation is different from that every other set of parents. Your question leads me to want to ask you a lot of questions so we can get down to a response specific to your family, like: 1. Are your parents both still alive? 2. Are they married and living together? 3. Is one or both in the nursing home? 4. Do they own a home? 5. What assets do they have? 6. What is their monthly budget? 7. Is either of them a war-time veteran of the US Armed Forces? 8. How many children do they have, and how are each of them willing to help? 9. What do your parents want to accomplish? 10. What approaches are you considering? (I will email you privately to ask you these questions, so we can be a little more specific in our exchange.
Elise and Fred (not their real names) were trying to figure out a way to pay for nursing home for Fred. They had $500,000 in assets. We worked out a plan for them that was legal and would have protected all these assets. I say would have because they decided that they felt a moral duty to pay a larger share of his nursing home costs. This is quite reasonable, and I supported them in this decision.
Medicare can help, but statistically it pays a very small part of nursing home costs. Trusts sometimes are a tool we use, but there are other, simpler things to try first.
The Veterans Administration can help, but the maximum they provide is around $2,000 a month, so they best help with assisted living or living at home. They are relatively easy to qualify for, but it takes 6-12 months to get approved.
Medicaid is the program that pays the most, but it is harder to qualify for than V.A. Your assets need to be less than $1,500, and they assess penalties for all gifts made within 60 months of applying.
That said, there are many ways to protect your parents’ assets so they can qualify and have a good quality of life. Maybe they should seek to qualify for Medicaid. Or V.A. Or both. Or neither.
It is nevertheless a dark and overgrown forest you are trying to navigate, and this is where the elder caring attorney can help you find your way. That is, he or she can help you find a path that steers your parents through this woods from where they are now.
Don’t try to go this alone, or even with a lawyer who is not an elder caring attorney. No, you should not rush out and give your parents’ assets to their children…if they want to apply for Medicaid some day. But it might be the right thing to do for V.A., if that is all the help they will ever need.
See what I mean about this being very specific to each family? It is also very much a conversation to try to see what really fits. You tell me one set of facts, and that suggests one strategy or approach. Then you say, that does not work, because your brother would not be able do his part in the plan. So we suggest something else. And we go back and forth.
Beth, please remember that this question and response does not establish a client-attorney relationship between us, nor between us and your parents. Nor should you use what is posted here in response as a roadmap for you to follow or put into effect. The only thing you should do is to get specific advice from a competent elder caring lawyer. Too much of your parents’ well-being depends on it.
Let’s talk a few specifics in private email and see if we can narrow down the response for you, Beth.
Thanks for posting!
:- Doug.