My mom makes too much money from Social Security and rental homes, so Medicaid won't pay for her to go into a nursing home. What can we do?

I agree the first step is to find a good elder lawyer -they are comming out of the woodwork now because of the demand I was recommanded one by my financial planner and he is great and a very nice person besides and I found out later he gives one day a week to our office of the ageing free which says a lot for him. I had to go to him when I was planning to apply to medicaide he knows all the new rules and can advise you-my husband passed away 3 weeks into the process-I did pay him a five hr. retainer and the time that was not used-because I was able to do a lot of work on my own-I used that time to deal with the details after he died and still have some time left. You need advice on how to proceed-do not wait because things have to be done before the look-back period which is now 5 yrs. This will probably become longer if you do not good about the first one you can always change. This way when the time comes that you need to think about assisted living or placement you will be prepared because when it happens there usually is no time to lose and you will know up front what is legal and such you do not want trouble down the line.

Your first step is to find out what the particular laws are in your state with regards to personal assets when it is time to consider a nursing home. (I hate the term too.) It is preferable to consult with an attorney who is familiar with such things. It will be money well spent and perhaps save you much grief and regrets later. Our mom had her assets, which only consisted of her home and bank accounts, put in her kids names several years before she needed care. An attorney handled this for us so we knew we were protecting her assets while abiding by the law. She lives with me now, but if the time ever comes, God forbid, when she needs a nursing home, nobody can take her assets. If she has anything left at such a time, (the cost of her care is causing her assets to slowly dwindle) we can use the money to put her a a better home than what will be available if she only has her social security check to pay for her care with. If you leave things the way they are, and as you say, there won't be enough money to pay for upkeep and taxes on her rental property, you may have to consider selling them. I really think you need the advice of a competent attorney in your area who is familiar with elder-law. Most of them will give you a consultation for free.