Mom was just moved to ALF and is approved for Medicaid but I need to sell her home. Who gets the money?
My mom owns a home and has a mortgage on it. There will be a very small amount of sales proceeds left after the closing ($10,000 +/-). Who gets this money?
So if house sells, there's going to be about 10k to mom? That's it right? That's a pretty low amountof $. I'd try to find things to do a 10k spend down for mom so that the $isNOT an issue for Medicaid.
Medicaid needs them to start & end the month within Medicaid's assets (2k) and income (amount set by your state & varies, like for my mom it was $ 2,064 a mo.) limits. Otherwise they become ineligible & have to reapply, deal with NH billing office, etc. For 10k, it's a lot of bother & if you can find a way around this it would be a good thing.
Here's my suggestions- 1st get the Actof Sale to be scheduled right at the beginning of the month. Like between 1st - 3rd.this gives you as DPOA the maximum amount of time to get through a spend down. So that mom ends her month back at impoverished amount OK for Medicaid. 2nd if she does not have a fully paid preneed done for funeral & burial, buy her this. It needs to be within Medicaid's limits. So check with medicaid caseworker. Policy needs to be irrecovable. They can cost easily 6k - 8k. So this alone uses up a big chunk of house $. 3rd buy her things that are not covered by Medicaid. Dental care, eyeglasses, better hearing aids, better wheelchairs & walkers all would be good. Things like this are obviously for her & with supporting receipts. So no issue with medicaid.Dental is expensive, it alone could be 10k, although it might be hard to get done within a single month.
Mom needs to get house $; spend it down ASAP; so all clear her bank account, so she ends her month back at the 2k asset maximum.
Mitzy, if Mom sells her house, then any equity belongs to Mom if she is the sole owner.... thus Mom would need to be self-pay at the nursing home, and after the $10K is used up, then Medicaid will start back up paying for her care.
Hopefully you are Mom's financial Power of Attorney, so that you can sign any legal documents regarding the SALE if Mom unable to do so. Does the POA give the address of the property that is own by Mom? Usually settlement/title companies request that on a POA so that the house can go to closing once it is sold.
If not, check with your Realtor to see if he/she thinks your POA is acceptable. Usually a Realtor can check with a settlement/title company. If the POA is not acceptable, then a settlement/title company will ask for your Mom to sign a new one [if she is able].
Just a hint, if Mom's house needs updating, don't bother with spending any time finding contractors and spending money on her house. Sell the house "as is" as there are fixer-uppers out there that like buying houses that need work. I did that with my Dad's house.
You will have your hands full trying to empty out the house. It took me 3 months to complete the job after work and on weekends. What to keep, what to donate, what to toss.... [sigh].
3 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
Medicaid needs them to start & end the month within Medicaid's assets (2k) and income (amount set by your state & varies, like for my mom it was $ 2,064 a mo.) limits. Otherwise they become ineligible & have to reapply, deal with NH billing office, etc. For 10k, it's a lot of bother & if you can find a way around this it would be a good thing.
Here's my suggestions-
1st get the Actof Sale to be scheduled right at the beginning of the month. Like between 1st - 3rd.this gives you as DPOA the maximum amount of time to get through a spend down. So that mom ends her month back at impoverished amount OK for Medicaid.
2nd if she does not have a fully paid preneed done for funeral & burial, buy her this. It needs to be within Medicaid's limits. So check with medicaid caseworker. Policy needs to be irrecovable. They can cost easily 6k - 8k. So this alone uses up a big chunk of house $.
3rd buy her things that are not covered by Medicaid. Dental care, eyeglasses, better hearing aids, better wheelchairs & walkers all would be good. Things like this are obviously for her & with supporting receipts. So no issue with medicaid.Dental is expensive, it alone could be 10k, although it might be hard to get done within a single month.
Mom needs to get house $; spend it down ASAP; so all clear her bank account, so she ends her month back at the 2k asset maximum.
Hopefully you are Mom's financial Power of Attorney, so that you can sign any legal documents regarding the SALE if Mom unable to do so. Does the POA give the address of the property that is own by Mom? Usually settlement/title companies request that on a POA so that the house can go to closing once it is sold.
If not, check with your Realtor to see if he/she thinks your POA is acceptable. Usually a Realtor can check with a settlement/title company. If the POA is not acceptable, then a settlement/title company will ask for your Mom to sign a new one [if she is able].
Just a hint, if Mom's house needs updating, don't bother with spending any time finding contractors and spending money on her house. Sell the house "as is" as there are fixer-uppers out there that like buying houses that need work. I did that with my Dad's house.
You will have your hands full trying to empty out the house. It took me 3 months to complete the job after work and on weekends. What to keep, what to donate, what to toss.... [sigh].
ADVERTISEMENT
It's an exempt asset under Medicaid, although they will put a lien on it.
The proceeds will need to be spent down quickly in order for mom not to be disqualified from Medicaid.