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That's Medicaid not Medicare. In Florida we have strong Homestead Property laws and they can't take your home even if you die your heirs still get it as far as I understand it.
In NJ I know someone who owned a home and their wife had to go into a nursing home for the last stages of Alzheimers and now Medicaid owns half of the husband's home since they owned it together, so when he dies and his kids go to sell the home the state gets half of the home's profits and the heirs get the other half.
New Jersey is a terrible state to die in ... our kids live in jersey ... they have both an estate tax and an inheritance tax .. many states only allow Medicaid to recover from probated assets .. New Jersey allows all assets to be hit including stuff with beneficiaries and joint accounts
Nope, liens can be placed on your home for collections. Pay the bills and it isn't an issue. If you owe someone money, they deserve to get it back, even if it comes from equity on a home sale.
Medical bills are a different breed of cat! They're often rife with errors, especially, as in the above case, when dealing through third party payers (ie insurance companies). A patient often does not even know if a provider is out of network, as in the case of emergencies, third-party consults, etc. The bill can go waaaay over a patient's budgeted resources. Many times, medical providers don't even care to communicate with the patient, they just slap a lien on their property, take a tax write-off, and so what?
That's exactly what happened to us with a property we owned in Nevada. I had an unpaid bill of something like $32. I would have gladly paid it, if I knew about it. Due to an incorrect address, I was never notified of the amount owed. I even called that doctor's office to see if my bill was paid off. They assured me it was, because that's what their ledger said, I owed zero. Ok, on their books, I owed zero, because they had sold the debt to a collections agency, who also had the bad address
We only found the unpaid debt when we sold our property. There was a lien on our property, even though it was our homestead! It was about $100 to clean the lien. Liens accrue interest, fees, etc! Luck for us the debt was only about a year old. Some liens stay attached for years, when the owner finds them, they have grown into a monster!
Even though it was a custom-built home, and brand new, there were liens all over it due to unpaid contractors. Fortunately, we had purchased OUR title insurance. Mortgage companies usually require you to take out title insurance to protect them, not you, which is what a lot of borrowers don't understand. I always insist on getting my own title insurance policy. Strange, title companies try to steer you away from such, saying oh, its not necessary and just another expense. It has cost me around $500--$1000 for my own title insurance, which I always felt was a good investment. It paid off with the Nevada property. We simply told them to refer to OUR title insurance, case closed. BTW, it was about $6000--$8000 of liens against our property
This investigation started in Colorado as far as I know. People were going to Hospitals that were in network for procedures however a Doctor that was out of network would do something and a huge bill would be sent and then a lien would get put on the house or wages are garnished.
That's Medicaid not Medicare. In Florida we have strong Homestead Property laws and they can't take your home even if you die your heirs still get it as far as I understand it.
In NJ I know someone who owned a home and their wife had to go into a nursing home for the last stages of Alzheimers and now Medicaid owns half of the husband's home since they owned it together, so when he dies and his kids go to sell the home the state gets half of the home's profits and the heirs get the other half.
Something similar happened to my great aunt. Medicaid had a lien on the home after she went into the nursing home. The daughter essentially squatted in the home until mom passed away. The house wasn't worth much, maybe $50k. As far as I know, the daughter is still living in it.
Titled assets can have liens on them. Minus the living necessities. Cars under a certain value required to get to work.
My state is debt collector friendly. I've had two cases that I fought and won just by showing up. Okay technically I did have to cite my defense. The judge ruled on the law which happened to be on my side.
Best one was the bank who got audited and found my old...voluntary repo. It had been sitting on the books ..they conveniently thought I wouldn't show up. The amount was 4k on the books and they were seeking 7k. I listened and when it was time to respond. Two fold came about. It was outside the collection statute time frame and it was not THIS entity's debt to pursue. They were not the original holder of this transaction. Ownership of the bank had changed hands two or three times by then . I then had to get it removed from my credit report since they reset it as an active collection. The judge awarded 500$ in my favor . Had it been a legitimate case the judgement could have wage garnishment and assets removed to cover the debt. So sometimes No you don't have to pay an old debt . Laws are in place that can be time sensitive. A writ of revival can be implemented by the judgement holder. My state is every ten years...to get the debt cleared or revive it.
But I just a news story where a woman was charged medical bills for an out of network doctor, it went to debt collections and they got a judgement and garnished 20% of her wages and put a lien on her home.
I thought you can only put a lien on a home for things directly related to the home, but that depends on the state you live in. I found out it depends on the Homestead Exemption rules of your state if they can put a lien or not. States like Florida have a strong Homestead law, but places like NJ and PA do not have one.
Depends on the state. The only people who can place a lien on a home in Florida if it is a homestead are workmen with mechanic's liens and possibly HOAs. Even then--if the person never moves--the lien is not paid.
Asset protection--that is why so many crooks, especially wealthy ones, move to Florida.
"...Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution states that creditors cannot force the sale of your homestead in order to collect a debt. It also states that no creditor can put a lien on a homestead. This is the Homestead Protection, also known as the “Homestead Exemption...."
Depends on the state. The only people who can place a lien on a home in Florida if it is a homestead are workmen with mechanic's liens and possibly HOAs. Even then--if the person never moves--the lien is not paid.
Asset protection--that is why so many crooks, especially wealthy ones, move to Florida.
"...Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution states that creditors cannot force the sale of your homestead in order to collect a debt. It also states that no creditor can put a lien on a homestead. This is the Homestead Protection, also known as the “Homestead Exemption...."
Not necessarily so. HOAs and COAs most certainly can - and do - foreclose on homesteaded properties in Florida. Here's a column that explains why they can and why Article X, Section 4 does not apply.
I like when legal articles use humor. It's really hard for creditors to get their money in Texas. One that I am reading now is regarding probate, and how after they send the 'sorry for your loss, but we need money letter', if the Executor does ABC as they should and the agency does not do XYZ the exact way they should, the Executor's attorney can then send a 'Sorry for YOUR loss letter'.
This is why you need to use all available legal means to protect your assets. Without protection, someone could sue you or use other means to obtain a judgement against you and your property could be in jeopardy. It doesn't even need to be a legit claim, there are those who use fraudulent means to attempt to scam you out of money- a very good friend of mine was once a victim of this type of scam...fortunately, she called *me* for advice and assistance and as an experienced investigator I was able to gather the evidence and information necessary to exonerate her...and put the scammers in the 'hot seat'.
Do not let this happen to *you*. Consult an attorney and consider putting your real estate and other valuable assets in a trust. The trust exists as a separate entity from you and (in most cases) is shielded from actions taken against you, personally. A trust can also be extremely beneficial in regards to death and probate- property held in a trust is not subject to probate...or inheritance taxes. This is one of the means that 'wealthy' people use to protect their assets, but it is not their wealth that entitles them to use these means, to the contrary, it is their knowledge and use of these means that enables them to become wealthy and maintain that wealth. Use of these means is not restricted to the 'wealthy', every single person with property and/or other valuable assets can use these means to protect those assets for the relatively small cost of consulting with an attorney and establishing the proper legal protections.
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I hear/read (here and in other venues) so many people who badmouth those who are 'wealthy', for their uses of the 'system' and laws to protect and enhance their wealth as though it is the fact that they are 'wealthy' that enables them to use these means, like they are deprived of the use of these means by the simple fact that they are not at a similar level of 'wealth'. This sort of retarded thinking is what prevents them from increasing their own 'wealth'. It is not 'wealth' that enables you to use these laws/means, it is the use of these laws/means that enables you to become 'wealthy'.
My wife is a certified/registered tax preparer. We are not technically 'wealthy' but her knowledge of the tax codes saves us many thousands of dollars that we would otherwise pay in taxes if she did not have the knowledge to *legally* reduce our tax liability- the same knowledge and means that the 'wealthy' use. While tax 'evasion' is a crime, tax 'avoidance' using completely legal means is not. No one should pay more taxes than they are legally required to pay, and *everyone* should use every legal means available to decrease their own tax liability, thereby increasing their own wealth instead of giving it to the government.
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