Not if she may need Medicaid within next 5 years. It looks like your hiding assets.
Medicaid does not "take" the house. As long as she is living, its an exempt asset. If someone has resided with her for years, is a diabled child or a related caregiver they maybe able to remain in the home if they can show they can afford the bills, taxes and upkeep. Mom's SS and pension, if there is one, will need to go towards her care. The house cannot be rented without an OK from Medicaid. If sold, it has to sell for Market Value. The proceeds going to her care.
Not usually - if you are attempting to avoid a Medicaid lien, consult an attorney. There is a lookback on transfers for up to 5 years when applying. Texas is one of the few states that allows ladybird deed outside probate but consult an attorney. Not a do it yourself.
Please see an estate lawyer for state specific advice on this. It’ll be well worth the money spent. My dad changed his home into a life estate deed, meaning he retained full ownership in his life and upon his death I became the owner. This was advised by his lawyer to avoid probate and it worked out really well. I had no taxes to pay on it as I owned the house only 2 months after he died. Avoiding probate definitely made matters go more smoothly, but there can be state specific laws you’ll need to be fully informed about
You always want to avoid probate if at all possible. A will is for "stuff," like "I leave my diamond ring to Susie, and a bucket of coal to Johnny," not for the big ticket items that the estate could get taxed on.
Never, NEVER sign a house over to someone you want to inherit it either, because they'll inherit the same cost basis as your mom and will have to pay capital gains taxes on the profit when they sell. If they inherit it after her death, the cost basis will be the value of the house as of the date of her death. (If she's been in her house for 50 years, chances are that house will have increased in value by an insane amount. That's a lot of taxes you want to avoid.)
Her bank accounts, any investment accounts, and her house should all be in a trust. Ideally, if she's heading into a nursing home and her ability to handle her affairs might be deteriorating, she should appoint someone else as Trustee to handle her affairs. She would still be the beneficiary of the Trust during her lifetime, and all the money and the house would still belong to her, but the Trustee can do all the work.
This is what my parents did when my dad (the competent, healthy one) became ill and died before my mother (the one who was expected to go first). Once my dad was given his terminal diagnosis, we contacted their attorney, who arranged for my folks to resign from their trust and for me, the first successor Trustee, to take over their affairs on the spot. It put my dad's mind at peace, and my mother was absolutely not competent to handle any of her affairs. As a result, I have been able to handle all my mother's business for the past three years, and when she passed away last week, I've been able to continue paying bills and taking care of things without a hiccup. Best of all, I didn't have to wait for my parents to die to learn about their finances and how everything works with a trust.
The one thing that can't go into a trust is Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). I don't know why, but there it is. When I go to settle the estate (I'm waiting for the death certificate), switching the IRAs over to the beneficiaries will take a little longer, but that's the only roadblock.
Talk to your mom about considering someone else she trusts (you, for example) to be the primary Trustee when she puts the trust together. The attorney she uses, if he's worth his salt, will not talk to you about this at all, because he needs to make sure she isn't be coerced. If she doesn't want to do that, so be it, but if she starts failing cognitively, she won't be able to sign off if she wants to resign from the trust.
On caveat -- If she's going to be using Medicaid to finance her nursing home stay, there may be rules about the house. Others will be along to explain those rules, I'm sure. I'm giving you the scenario my family, which paid for nursing home care out of pocket.
Momma has a trust and iras too. Yes the iras are not in the trust.. Question? Does the iras have to go through probate? You said that you have to provide the death certificate and then the distributions go out to the beneficiaries. I just do the same thing and do you know how long it takes or I guess you are still waiting.
Medicaid does not "take" the house. As long as she is living, its an exempt asset. If someone has resided with her for years, is a diabled child or a related caregiver they maybe able to remain in the home if they can show they can afford the bills, taxes and upkeep. Mom's SS and pension, if there is one, will need to go towards her care. The house cannot be rented without an OK from Medicaid. If sold, it has to sell for Market Value. The proceeds going to her care.
Never, NEVER sign a house over to someone you want to inherit it either, because they'll inherit the same cost basis as your mom and will have to pay capital gains taxes on the profit when they sell. If they inherit it after her death, the cost basis will be the value of the house as of the date of her death. (If she's been in her house for 50 years, chances are that house will have increased in value by an insane amount. That's a lot of taxes you want to avoid.)
Her bank accounts, any investment accounts, and her house should all be in a trust. Ideally, if she's heading into a nursing home and her ability to handle her affairs might be deteriorating, she should appoint someone else as Trustee to handle her affairs. She would still be the beneficiary of the Trust during her lifetime, and all the money and the house would still belong to her, but the Trustee can do all the work.
This is what my parents did when my dad (the competent, healthy one) became ill and died before my mother (the one who was expected to go first). Once my dad was given his terminal diagnosis, we contacted their attorney, who arranged for my folks to resign from their trust and for me, the first successor Trustee, to take over their affairs on the spot. It put my dad's mind at peace, and my mother was absolutely not competent to handle any of her affairs. As a result, I have been able to handle all my mother's business for the past three years, and when she passed away last week, I've been able to continue paying bills and taking care of things without a hiccup. Best of all, I didn't have to wait for my parents to die to learn about their finances and how everything works with a trust.
The one thing that can't go into a trust is Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). I don't know why, but there it is. When I go to settle the estate (I'm waiting for the death certificate), switching the IRAs over to the beneficiaries will take a little longer, but that's the only roadblock.
Talk to your mom about considering someone else she trusts (you, for example) to be the primary Trustee when she puts the trust together. The attorney she uses, if he's worth his salt, will not talk to you about this at all, because he needs to make sure she isn't be coerced. If she doesn't want to do that, so be it, but if she starts failing cognitively, she won't be able to sign off if she wants to resign from the trust.
On caveat -- If she's going to be using Medicaid to finance her nursing home stay, there may be rules about the house. Others will be along to explain those rules, I'm sure. I'm giving you the scenario my family, which paid for nursing home care out of pocket.