Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Also, the suggestion to pursue veteran's widow benefits is a good one.
Mom was a veteran's widow and we didn't know at the time about this benefit. BiscuitPop and I are going thru the process now of getting his mom set up for veteran's widow benefits. They pay approx $1100 a month toward assisted living / nursing home costs. However, the process is long and tedious. We began doing the paperwork more than a year ago; his mom is not yet (but soon will be) in an assisted-living center and we have fingers crossed that all the paperwork is done.
We are putting his mom's home up for sale. In today's market, it will likely bring 60K-70K. Not nearly as much as we'd like, but that will pay for a year of dementia care, where we live. And maybe by then, the VA widow benefit will kick in. Add that to her SS and we're good for a few years, without having to resort to Medicaid (which as some have said, is dead in the water anyway).
You opened the door for this to be entered into this thread by your statement:
She was a taxpayer who paid into the system directly or indirectly by paying numerous taxes for over 70 years. So again she deserves any and all benefits of it.
Your grandmother will still get her full FICA benefit. Period.
That's got nothing at all to do with her house or her eligibility for Medicaid, and it would behoove you to understand that, since you want to help her.
Your grandmother will still get her full FICA benefit. Period.
That's got nothing at all to do with her house or her eligibility for Medicaid, and it would behoove you to understand that, since you want to help her.
If we sell her house now she will be lucky to get $40,000 for it. She has paid into the system for decades, so forcing her to sell at such a tremendous loss to afford a few months of care is unfair.
Yes, it's unfair.
And it's unfair that we had to take a 30-40k loss on my mom's house, due to the housing market.
So much about today's economy is unfair.
But none of that will help your grandmother. She needs help and help costs money.
You have said she's drawing FICA. Take that monthly amount and subtract it from your estimated monthly cost for her care. That's how much money you'll need.
You're eligible for approx. $1100 in VA widow benefit but you have to start doing the paperwork STAT. As in yesterday.
You'll get 40K for her house. Divide that by 24, since it'll probably take you 2 years (my best guess) to get the paperwork done to start drawing VA widow benefits.
That gives you a working idea of how much money you need to raise to get your grandmother the care which she needs and deserves. Take that info to an elder-care lawyer. Quit worrying about whether or not the govt will take the house (it won't).
Take the energy and effort and anger you're now putting into this thread and start working on YOUR grandmother's situation, ie begin putting together the paperwork needed to get her $1100 mo. VA widow benefit, talk to an attorney, talk to a realtor, find out what you can get for the house and how long it might take to sell. Listen to the realtor, merge his/her advice with your grandmother's financial needs, then put the house on the market for your best compromised selling price (recognizing you'll get less than you hoped but every little bit will help). Quit worrying about what the govt might or might not do, that's out of your control and it'll only wear you out to worry about it. Keep on taking care of your grandmother. Living with demenia-afflicted loved ones is exhausting, but she needs and deserves the best you can do for her. Don't forget to take care of yourself!
Good luck, you've got a long haul in front of you but you can do it.
And it's unfair that we had to take a 30-40k loss on my mom's house, due to the housing market.
What loss? It wasn't your house to start with, you gained $102k plus you gained at least 10 years of tax write offs from the estate. And since your Mother didn't end up in a home under Medicaid the information you are supplying has no value to assisting in this thread.
I in turn have personal knowledge related to all the steps from a family member taking care of a person with Dimentia to home nursing care to the nursing facility. I fully understand the mental pain in all the decision processes.
Quote:
That's got nothing at all to do with her house or her eligibility for Medicaid,
The house will come into play only if she becomes a permanent resident in a home paid by medicaid. Past that the home stays in GM's ownership.
Earlier in this thread, someone posted the comment that nursing homes take both Medicaid and private pay.
Some do, some don't.
When I was calling around Raleigh, NC, I found very few that were open to Medicaid funding from the get go. Some would allow a switch to Medicaid when the money ran out. One operation had a facility about 60 miles away that a person could be transferred to when Medicaid kicked in. Others stated they did not accept Medicaid funding, period. Once the money ran out, you'd have to move to another facility.
A woman I know was seeking a CNA job. Several people steered her away from facilities that accepted Medicaid funding. Their explanation was that the work was considerably more difficult as each CNA was responsible for a greater number of residents in the Medicaid facilities.
There are wonderful facilities that accept Medicaid. But there is no way they can provide $5,000/month level of care for $3,000/month.
I don't agree with the notion that taxpayers' should foot the bills for parents' care just so their beneficiaries can inherit the house. And "hide the valuables" seems ethically shady.
Let's consider what ethics in America really are today: Haliburton, the company that profited the most from the Iraq/Afghan wars, moved their corporate headquarters to Dubai to avoid paying US taxes on their earnings. We still give them multi-billion dollar contracts paid for by the taxpayer, you and me. I'll gladly contribute for Social Security and your infirm elders' care before I'll willingly give Haliburton another cent.
Since the subject has come up, how is a house put in trust to shield it as an asset? That seems to be the name of the game anymore.
Yes, if she is on Medicaid they take almost everything and there is a 5 year look back for asset transfers. If you want your kids to have your home someday and you can trust them not to kick you out on the street, transfer it while you are healthy.
There seems to be an underlying assumption here that taxpayers should foot the bill for the elderly grandmother's care, in order that her family can inherit the house and valuable possessions.
My mother spent the last 18 months of her life in a lovely Assisted Living Center. She was pleased with it and we were also. Her work pension, SS check, and a LTC insurance policy, combined, covered all costs - approx $4100 a month for her studio apartment, meals, nursing care, etc.
If she had not had these resources, we (mom, my siblings, and I) would have sold her house, used that money to pay for her care, and been thankful to have had that resource.
My husband's cousins sold their parents' house, when the parents had to go into Assisted Living and their pensions fell short of covering the cost. They've remarked many times about how well it worked out financially.
I don't agree with the notion that taxpayers' should foot the bills for parents' care just so their beneficiaries can inherit the house. And "hide the valuables" seems ethically shady.
I'm not against taxpayer-supported elder care; in fact I'd happily pay more tax if the money would go for that. In other words, I'm what most people call a socialist-liberal in that respect.
But that's not the system we have, it's not the law of the land, and I'm dismayed when I hear/read people trying to work things so the government will pay for their loved elderly one's care even when the elderly have substantial assets and can therefore afford to pay at least some of the costs.
Do you know why it cost $4,100 a month? Because of INSURANCE. Yes, you had other means to pay toward it also, but prices are hugely raised so that insurance can be billed and everyone can make a good hefty amount of money.
So - in other words - taxpayers also wouldnt have to pay for such a large bill if it wasnt OVERbilled to start with. The whole thing is BS.
But i hate to see that this thread has come to whether if all you have left is your house and a few possessions - it's ok to try to keep them or not...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
