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wjmg1960 Asked June 2016

Can anyone shed some light on her joint names savings account?

My mother in law truly needs to be in a nursing home. She has mobility problems and has been making some careless missteps that I'm afraid will lead to a fall or something worse. She is only on Social Security and has a Medicare Advantage plan. She never worked outside of the home so her Social Security is small at $1200 per month. Right now she's in a 2 floor apartment but should not be. She has a savings bank account which has been in her's and her daughter's names since 1996 after my father in law passed away. If a nursing home was to take it all, I'm sure she'd never consent. The account is less than $20k but to her it's a big fortune. I'm sure living through many recessions helped her to feel this way. So, before I go further with considering the possibility of a nursing, can anyone shed some light on her joint names savings account? Thanks so much for any help you can give.

freqflyer Jun 2016
wjmg1960, your Mom-in-law's social security is the amount transferred to her from your late father-in-law's social security from when he had worked. Without that spousal benefit, your Mom-in-law would only have received a very minimal amount for social security, if any.

Since your Mom-in-law's wealth is limited, she may have no choice but to sign up for Medicaid to help pay for continuing care facility [nursing home], because if she stayed in her home and hired around the clock help, that $20k would be gone in a couple of months.

You can also see if the State where your Mom-in-law lives has an Assisted Living waiver which will help pay for part of the AL cost.

pamstegma Jun 2016
Joint accounts offer no protection from spend down.

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