Ok, I will be speaking with my Aunt on my father's side who had to put my Grandma (his mother) into a nursing home, plus I told my Grandma (my mom's mother) to put in a call to her attorney so we can sit down with him to get our questions answered, but thought I'd throw this up here for anyone who has gone, or is going through, this.

Yes, that's a huge run-on sentence. [smiley=grin2.gif]

Here is my dilemma.  My Grandma B. is 78 years old.  She currently resides at an appartment complex that is low income housing for the elderly.  Her rent is based off her SSI income and whatever assets she has.  In the near future (which could be anywhere from 2-7 years from now, unless she ends up in a wheelchair), we (I) will have to make the decision to put her into assisted living or a nursing home.  

Now I understand that the government can take everything she has in order to pay for the living quarters.  All my Grandma owns is $50,000 in her savings.  That's it.  From what I gather, they look back 5 years to see what assets you have, and if there is a lot that disappears (like if she withdrew it all in cash), she can end up being rejected for Medicaid or would end up with a large penalty in order to go into a home.  

The apartment manager at her complex told her also that her current rent would change (didn't say how much or up/down) because they too go off her income/assets.  He did say though that if she wanted to help "me" out with anything, that it should be in the form of things like groceries, bills, etc., so as not to have problems in the future with the transition.

Has anyone else had to go through this and am I hearing this all correctly?  My Grandma feels so bad now, she had intended that money to go to me after she passed on, but obviously that is not going to happen.

Oh, and forgot to add that a resident at the building mentioned to her to withdraw something like $500 cash a month and keep it in a safe at home.

Any help on this journey would be HUGELY appreciated!  I am overwhelmed, confused and just don't know where to start or what to do.

I never thought I'd end up being my Grandma's sole caregiver let alone her Power of Attorney.  My mom was supposed to have been alive for that. :(

Thanks!
:)mel

Mel....

The laws on this aren't easily explained as there are several factors involved. Any advice I could give might not help you as each situation is different. A lawyer that specializes in this area is definitely who you need to see.

B

My Grandmother was home on assisted living for a long long time, then to an elderly asisted living arangement.  Her home was owned by her son.  He bought it from them when they were in their 60's and they couldn't afford to the taxes anymore.  He let them stay their free of charge.  Thus no assests.  My grandmother gave all her belongings away right before she moved into the elderly assisted living home.  This way she was able to enjoy seeing people get the stuff they wanted and not have to worry about the kids fighting over her stuff.

Teds Mom also sold her home to her 10 kids evenly split.  When she turned 65.  Thus she has no assets to interfer need she to go into a nursing home.

My Grandfather had a stroke and needed nursing home care until the day he died.  He was in there for years.  They owned a home and had thousands in the bank.  They were forced to sell the home and fork over all the savings inorder to place him in the nursing home .  

I have heard that you can get around the savings problem by giving it away a month x number of years before she ever needs the nursing home.  Best bet is to talk to an attorney.

Best of luck.

When relying on Medicaid to pay for a nursing home, they take everything, but residents are allowed to keep something like $100 of monthly income (my recollections are about 3 years old, so this may have changed). I think the national average nursing care cost is about $153 PER DAY.  That's roughly $4500 a month.

I can't speak about assisted living because we never went that route.

Be advised that they can also come after any assets from the estate after death, for the remaining costs of care.  If Granny lives there after exhausting her savings and her income doesn't cover the balance, Medicaid has a legal right to get her life insurance payout and any other estate assets to cover the balance.  They are NOT able to come after YOU for the remainder.

This consideration was one of the reasons we took my dad in to live with us.  He didn't have much, but he wanted US to have it rather than the state.

Sorry to hear this,
"Contact an Elderly Benefit Specialist through the county aging commission or office of Independent Living Centers (for persons age 60 and above and their families). To find the specialist in your area, go to dhs.wisconsin.gov/aging/genage/benspecs.htm or call 1-800-362-3002.
The Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers (for persons under age 60 and their families). To find the center in your area, call toll-free at 1-800-690-6665 or (608) 251-9151 (V/TTY).
Hospital and nursing home staff.
Member Services at 1-800-362-3002 or 711 (TTY).
Your local county or tribal agency. To get the address and telephone number of your local agency call 1-800-362-3002 or go to dhs.wisconsin.gov/em/CustomerHelp. "
Mel, I took this from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, this is just a suggestion for you. Some of this deals with Spousal Impoverishment, but I think an Elderly Benefit Specialist maybe able to help you, just one avenue, and my two cents, but I also agree with Bill's response, to seek legal help.

Diane

First off I want to thank everyone for your help!


Secondly I want to say, WHAT A FREAKIN NIGHTMARE!!!

Here's one for you,

My Grandma's attorney's office burned down last year.  Ok, we both thought he'd get a different office or rebuild the one had.  WELL, come to find out he closed his practice and is slowly closing out his business.  HUH?  This is just too rich!

Anyway, Grandma actually called his wife at home and he will be calling Grandma himself.  She's going to then have him phone me, oh freakin yippee!  Anyway, from all I've researched today and through some people I've spoken to, looks like Grandma will have to start shopping more than what she's been doing (which is bascially not spending anything).  I don't care about Grandma's money, but I DO care about her life insurance policy.  It's not a big one, just a very small whole life that would be enough to bury her with.  So that is what my questioning will be for the former(HA!) attorney.

[smiley=ohjez.gif]

I'm pretty sure there are ways around this Mel. At least I have heard so. I've no experience with it. Good luck with the lawyer.

Here, if you have less than $2,000 you are eligible for Medicaid and food stamps and the like but if I want medicaid my income had to be less than $347 a month....I had it for a short while last year. The value of my house was not counted as part of my assets.

Just some info kid and good luck.

Oh....by the way, your friend's idea of regular withdrawl of several hundred dollars weekly is a good idea. Lots of people do that

Charlie

You know - I would think she could pre-pay her final expenses by going to a mortuary to deal with all that up front. That way you have that covered if medicaid takes the insurance money. It is true that any money she gifts ahead of time over a certain amount can be included back into the estate.

My grandmother was stubborn over the same issue. Would not let us sell her home when the market was good and it could have sold. She wanted something to "leave to her 8 grandchildren". Seriously, we all had more than she did. It was silly. So instead, my aunt paid her monthly care, $5500 per month for 3 years until she died. Now we're stuck with a mobile home that has been on the market for 3 years, monthly space rent my uncle pays of $550, and we can't seem to get rid of it. What started out for sale at $49,900 is now dropped to $19,900 and still not sold.

Mel, Christy's right, you have the right to prepay your final expenses while you are preparing for assisted living-or the like. making your grandmother ward of the state can be complicated. For GG, it was a matter of 'gifting off" the $$ she had.which was minimal, since her SSI was a whopping $668. Her nursing home was approx $4800 per mo, of which 100% was paid by medicaid, in turn, her SSI check went to them, and she received a stipend of $60. per mo. I paid for hair and manicures for her, as well as clothing, incidentals, you get it.......
I kept a "slush fund" for her, it began with her $1000...keeping it out of the state's hands, and, at any time, it had $1000 in it, incase she needed anything.
GG had no assets at that point. No car, house, etc, so those weren't an issue. She could, right now, deed the house to you.Her whole life Ins could be turned in for face value......but, here's the sticky wicket.....not sure HOW to do that without an attorney's help.....
so, my best suggestion is to find a good elder law attorney(that's what we did).....so all the I's are crossed and the T's dotted.
It may not be much, but it's Grandma's assets, and she SHOULD be able to disburse them as she sees fit.
Not fun, certainly not something you really WANT to consider, but it will help her with peasce of mind, and you will know everything is being done for her that can be done.

You're a good, loving granddaughter, Melly!
Cathi :D

OMG!!  I've GOT IT!!!!  
Mel, Grandma should buy Christy's grandmother's manuf home in CA.......put you on the deed, THEN, when necesssary, you can sell it(hopefully the market will have rebounded)....and you guys can all figure out the disbursement!

Well, it IS a sound solution.........

Seriously, the Elder Law Attorney is the help you need...
best of luck!!

cathi

Or another solution is -- let Grandmaw LOAN you her savings at no interest (get an attorney to draw up the papers nice and legal) and you pay it back $100 per month. Put a claus in there that upon her death the note payment goes to YOU... That way she has the assets, but it's null and void upon her death. We did this with my step-grandmother.

There really are ways around that little loophole -- talk to the lawyer and find them.. But take a deep breath -- it's not the end of the world. Trust me on this one... It's just paperwork..

Hugs BD :-*

Cathi, Grandma doesn't have a home, only cash and whatever is in her appartment.

I did some reading up on elder law and did find out she can gift up to $13,000 per year, per grandchild (well, that'd just be me), but it didn't say anything about great-grandkids, so we'll see what the attorney says.  I also read about possibly gifting 1/2 the money and then using the other 1/2 to cover the penalty costs if she'd have to go into a hme.  I printed off a bunch of stuff from elderlaw.com.  It is SO valuable!!

Thanks all for your help and suggestions.  I sure am glad you (and the internet, lol) are here! :)

Melissa wrote on Aug 1^st, 2009 at 5:02pm:

I did some reading up on elder law and did find out she can gift up to $13,000 per year, per grandchild (well, that'd just be me), but it didn't say anything about great-grandkids, so we'll see what the attorney says.  I also read about possibly gifting 1/2 the money and then using the other 1/2 to cover the penalty costs if she'd have to go into a hme.  I printed off a bunch of stuff from elderlaw.com.  It is SO valuable!!

It's my understanding you can give anyone 13K a year tax free....

wrote on Dec 7^th, 2012 at 10:39am:

There are some old age home projcts who are providing there homes at some reasonable prices at once, which could be your personal property, with all necessary facilities required for seniors at their stage of lives alsong with nursing facility. There will be no monthly or yearly payments or charges. So, people could look forward to get one out of those for their grand parents.

Um, Clusner?  This thread is 3 years old.  I'm curious as to why you'd revive it?

I deleted his posts...his signature line is a billboard link!! Bye bye spammer.

Joe