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Yes, and Medicaid will come after the estate for it.
Wrong. Not if they've "hidden" it before the five-year Medicaid look-back period, which is why estate planning (sheltering your assets) programs are aimed at people in their 70s, before most fall apart...
Wrong. Not if they've "hidden" it before the five-year Medicaid look-back period, which is why estate planning (sheltering your assets) programs are aimed at people in their 70s, before most fall apart...
They are still going to do a review. My mom has been dead a year and it was just a few months ago that we got the "all clear" from the company that Medicaid in Texas uses for asset recovery.
Yes, and Medicaid will come after the estate for it.
This isn't always the case.
Great aunt (grandmother's sister) was in an SNF for around five years, maybe slightly more. She was widowed around 1980 and had never worked outside the home. Grandmother said she abused the welfare system - little to no assets when she went into the nursing home, other than a home maybe worth $70,000.
An adult daughter has been living in the house since great aunt went into the nursing home. The adult daughter isn't disabled or anything. Medicaid could have come after the home, but has never done so. The estate really has nothing other than the house and if it's not low hanging fruit, they may just move on.
If you have money that could be used for your care and "hide" it (which is what the spend-down, early inheritance, or "estate planning" is) to avoid supporting yourself, instead relying on the taxpayers to cover your nursing home bill, that's plain and simple theft, as far as I'm concerned.
I agree. However if there is a spouse, I can certainly understand it.
They are still going to do a review. My mom has been dead a year and it was just a few months ago that we got the "all clear" from the company that Medicaid in Texas uses for asset recovery.
And she didn't have much.
They may "do a review," but you're ALLOWED to hide your money as long as it happens five years before applying for Medicaid. At least until the law changes again (it used to be three years), which it really needs to.
"If you have money that could be used for your care and "hide" it (which is what the spend-down, early inheritance, or "estate planning" is) to avoid supporting yourself, instead relying on the taxpayers to cover your nursing home bill, that's plain and simple theft, as far as I'm concerned."
I disagree. Theft is a crime. Taking advantage of laws, rules and regulations is hardly illegal. Don't get sucked in by the word "hide." Frankly, having paid my fair share of taxes for many decades, and witnessing first hand how our politicians dispose of it like it was their personal campaign funds, I do not take umbrage when a taxpayer uses legitimate means to keep his/her money in the family.
You are entitled to your viewpoint on the matter. However, you are not entitled to disparage others who do not share that viewpoint with terms such as "theft."
Well, 82 year old grandmother is beginning to reach a crisis point on the mobility issues, and aunt and myself are now helping her house hunt. She is now basically unable to get up and down the stairs in the tri-level home to use the restroom and has been staying with my aunt almost permanently.
The gist of it is like this. The house is a 3BR/2BA ~1225 sq. ft tri-level. Bedrooms/bathrooms upstairs, living room/kitchen main level, and garage/laundry/den (that could be a 4th BR). It's as far from an open concept as you can get - feels very closed/segmented. The Trulia estimate for the home is about $120,000 - it is a smaller home in a neighborhood of somewhat larger homes. It needs updating but is in livable condition, clean, everything works, etc. Heat pump was replaced earlier this summer when it failed.
We've been looking at places and have run into various issues, but the most severe problem is that she is simply unwilling to spend more than whatever her home would sell for. Personally, I don't think it will sell easily - it is not the type of home people want these days, needs some cosmetic work, and is in a stagnant/declining population county with a bad and declining high school. The neighbors (who were all older than her) have mostly died off and the new residents aren't taking care of homes as well, etc. The neighborhood isn't bad but is going downhill a bit.
She needs a place, preferably in a townhome/duplex, without a yard, all on one level, with wide doors/halls that could accommodate a walker, a step-in shower with a bench, etc. What we're looking for is difficult to find in this area, and almost anything that does meet the need is around $200,000. She's unwilling to leave Kingsport for other nearby towns that may have more inventory. Aunt is 56 and losing her job shortly and cannot help financially. My parents are in no position to help either.
I don't know how much money she has, but she has made comments that she is living just on her social security, and that my grandfather's pension (which he took out in a lump sum) was never touched, nor was any of their private savings. They've always been frugal, perhaps almost fanatically so. They've had no debt for years.
She's still in this penny-pinching mode. She said she wants to be able to give it to my mom and aunt, but the money is needed at this point to get her out of this home she can no longer reasonably live in. An ALF may be becoming more necessary. It is incredibly frustrating trying to deal with her because there is no inventory in her price range, and while she can probably afford what she needs, she's just unwilling to part with one red cent. I've told her that savings should be used to meet her own needs first, and that whatever is left over can go to the kids.
She is unwilling to spend down anything. We're not talking about spending savings down to go on exotic vacation, but just to meet her changing needs. Were/are you willing to spend down perhaps a significant part of your savings to meet your needs as you age and your health changes?
Sounds like my 78 year old MIL. She has more $$$$$ then she knows what to do with but to hear her tell it, she's barely getting by. Any suggestions made to her about spending a little to improve her quality of life are met with "I might need that money to live on". Whatever....
"If you have money that could be used for your care and "hide" it (which is what the spend-down, early inheritance, or "estate planning" is) to avoid supporting yourself, instead relying on the taxpayers to cover your nursing home bill, that's plain and simple theft, as far as I'm concerned."
I disagree. Theft is a crime. Taking advantage of laws, rules and regulations is hardly illegal. Don't get sucked in by the word "hide." Frankly, having paid my fair share of taxes for many decades, and witnessing first hand how our politicians dispose of it like it was their personal campaign funds, I do not take umbrage when a taxpayer uses legitimate means to keep his/her money in the family.
You are entitled to your viewpoint on the matter. However, you are not entitled to disparage others who do not share that viewpoint with terms such as "theft."
It's not a statutory crime, since it's (as you point out unfortunately) legal at this time. I considering it a moral crime; exactly theft. " I don't wish to spend MY money - my children and grandchildren have plans for it - so I'll use yours instead, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer." Call it what you will, and I'll do the same.
Estate planning does not equate with "hiding" assets.
I don't think any one here who's talked about estate planning has said anything about, nor ever endorsed, "hiding" assets.
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