How do I protect from losing my grandparents property?

Gosh I do hope your lawyer is a good one. Be sure to bring a well-prepared list of quesrions, and don't leave that office until you are very clear on all the answers.

GRI - sweet! There is a great article on MERP that you'd probably appreciate. It's in Stargazer ( the title companies newsletter ) a couple of years ago. Just Google
stargazer MERP & it should search up.

I'd ask legal exactly how caregiver property exemption gets done. If it can happen upon application that is better. Some states require it to be filed and transferred after death which is lots more cumbersome. You may need to delay grandpas application till you have the full 2 years or whatever # of months of documented caregiving period behind you. Try to get a clear detailed answer on caregiver exemption and the exact formula grandpas state uses for transfer penalty and how to go about having a conservative appraisal used for penalty # (substituted for the tax assessor value).

Thanks you have been great. He is the one that wanted to give me 2 acres (only child) and granddaughter 2 acres. He wanted us to be able to build on property. Me and my husband have not sold our home in NC. But with his medical issues he asked us to live with him. I was Broker & GRI in Real Estate for close to 30+ years so our home there is rental property. Grandpa's property is free and clear of any liens and mortgage paid off years before my mother passed in 1990. You have a great day and today we have appointment with attorney for POA. Thanks loads

Geez... so many issues. The first thing I'd suggest is to find out what your state Medicaid LTC program allows as the maximum value (usually based on local tax assessor bill) of their homesteaded property. If its over 500K. - which is the max for most states - then grandpa will NOT even qualify for Meducaid to begin with. Some east coast states have the value @ 750k. Remember when it comes to Medicaid, each state administers its medicaid program uniquely.

Also If the property is the sort that the home & it's land - which together has a homestead exemption- is 1 tax assessor parcel BUT there are other parcels that abut & those parcels get their own tax bill, those will not qualify as exempt property & will keep grandpa from qualifying for medicaid till sold & used in spend down on his care. He has to be impoverished.

The property value rules are hard & fast. States do allow for actively working family farms or ranches with their sections or acreage to be an exempt asset. You would have to document prior years of the farm or ranch as a business AND have some of the profit go towards their income copay to the NH. These can get pretty complex & call out for experienced legal & accounting to do the compliance needed both for the initial medicaid application and the annual renewals.

But if the property is under the max allowed, then gather up all the legal on grandpa, all his property and pay for an NAELA elder law attorney. You have all sorts of issues....the deeding in of the 2 acres means transfer penalty on that little nugget alone......and starting whenever grandpa submits his Medicaid application (like this year in 2015) and not back in 2013 when you all moved in. Out of curiosity, who's idea was the 2 acres gifting???

You may be able to get the caregiver exemption, the atty will let you know what is needed to get that done & how it works for property transfer in your state.

Btw grandpa doesn't sign over his house to a NH. NH aren't in the real estate business, they don't want a bunch of old houses with old folks stuff in them. What they want & require is to be paid for the services they as a NH do. Whether that means selling the propery to pay or having Medicaid pay or requiring family to sign a legally binding contract to pay for grandpa.

If family want to keep their qualified exempt elders home when the elder is in a NH & on medicaid, for whatever reason, it can be done. But family will need to pay for all costs on the property from now till they die and then through probate process and deal with estate recovery (MERP) within probate. But you have to have the funds personally to do this whether for a year or ten years. Grandpa once in a NH & on Medicaid will have no - none - nada -ziltch of his income (SS, pension) to ever again pay on the property that he owns as he is required to do a copay of his income (his SOC) to the NH. He gets a small allowance to cover personal needs - like barber shop. You will have to pay all taxes, utilities, insurance, etc on the property from day 1 of NH till whenever probate done or caregiver exemption allows for transfer of property.

I will assume that your father has Medicare, which would pay most of his medical bills, hospital stays, therapy, rehab, etc. If he needs skilled nursing care and has no one at home to care for him there, would he qualify for Medicaid? Medicaid is different from Medicare. Medicaid has income and asset qualifications. You are allowed some property, but it has a max limit. The cash assets are limited to $2000.00. There is also a monthly income limit. If he has too much, there is something called Spend down, but I don't know much about that. I bet you get some information on this thread about how that works. To be sure though, I would consult with an attorney who is skilled in Medicaid regulations in the state where you father lives. There seems to be a lot at stake.

Are there enough people to pool their time and resources to care for your father in his home so he doesn't require a nursing home?

If Daddy needs long term care, can he pay for it himself? If so, no problem.

If Daddy needs to apply for Medicaid to help pay for his care, then the state can pay themselves back from the sale of his house after he dies. There are exceptions, and one is the house may go to a person who has been the person's caregiver for at least 2 years and has thereby kept that person out of a nursing home.

I think it would be wise to consult an attorney who specializes in Elder Law to understand what Daddy's options are. Paying a consultation fee now can save you lots of heartache down the road.