Hi, don’t want to pay an elder law firm $1000 to tell me nothing can be done. I have a friend who is starting to have memory problems at age 78. His mother started her dementia journey around the same age and ultimately was in a nursing home by age 83. We were able to spend down her assets because they were all just cash and normal brokerage accounts.
But this guy owns cash flowing rental real estate in a Roth IRA so you can never spend it down to nothing.
Also, he and his wife own two houses. Would she need him to divorce her and “give” her both houses in the divorce to get them out of the Medicaid calculation? Does that work? Does it have to happen before the 5 year lookback period?
Thanks for any insights.
But again, rental property and xtra property can be sold for his care.
Second, one has to also qualify financially.
Third, Medicaid beds are usually shared rooms.
Your friends should create a trust or talk to a Medicaid Planner for their state about a Miller Trust, but if they've got the funds why not pay for a great facility? They're not all ghastly expensive. My MIL is in an excellent faith-based LTC facility that's run by the second-largest organization in the nation (Presbyterian Homes, circa 1955). It's more affordable than for-profit facilities.
As a Taxpayer I am a bit upset that someone would want me to help pay for their care when they can afford it.
I used my money, my husbands money to pay for his care. yeah, I could have divorced him, I could have tried to get him on Medicaid. But I didn't
Maybe the best option would be to let your friends figure this out.
Let them pay an Elder Care Attorney. Not to figure out how they can get on Medicaid but to protect the assets that they do have, so that she can access them when and how she needs to.
And to make sure all the paperwork is in place so that she can make decisions for him when the time comes. End of Life decisions, and what he does and does not want.
And most important how to protect HIM if anything ever happens to her. how will he be cared for. There are "Special Needs Trusts" that can be set up for him if something happens to her.
We're not here to direct your friend on how to scam the government into paying for care he doesn't qualify for, or how to hide his assets. Sorry.