My mom has the mortgage on her home but deeded the entire property to me in 2004. Will the state take her home?
My mom has dementia and I am looking into putting her in a long term home. The only income is her SSI. Will the state try and take the home as she is still the mortgage holder even though she deeded it to me. I am also the POA.
Gladimhere is correct. Your Mother has been giving you a monthly gift when she makes her mortgage payments. At a minimum, 5 years of mortgage payments are likely to be within the lookback period.
The other question might be whether the mortgage is a REVERSE mortgage, in which case no quit claim deed would be valid unless the RM and related fees were repaid and lien discharged. By the way, Medicaid will look to see if the property and TAXES PAID remained in the parent's name in which case no legally recognized transfer occurred. You either attempted to defraud medicaid or obtain wrongful property tax exemptions in the eyes of many taxing authorities. Sticky.
This is what I understand to be the legal situation of a mortgagee (entity which grants and holds a mortgage), as explained by transactional attorneys with whom I worked.
The individual holding title is the owner; a mortgagee holds a lien, not title. It does not own the property; it has a secured interest against it. Thus, owner owns the property, subject to the secured interest of the mortgagee.
The owner can sell the property; the secured interest would have to be discharged.
A mortgagee can sell property ONLY under certain circumstances, set forth in the mortgage, as to conditions under which it may assert that right and acquire ownership. Tax defaults, unacceptable use of property and mortgage default (leading to ownership by foreclosure) are some of the conditions under which a mortgagee can acquire ownership.
I’d suggest you clearly find out if in fact mom could legally “Deed” the house to you in 2004 as there was then & is still is now a mortgage on the property by what you posted
If there is a mortgage on a property then until mortgage is paid off or otherwise satisfied, it is not owned by mom. The title / Deed of Trust is held by mortgage co. When mortgage is paid off then they would issue to your mom a “Release of Deed of Trust” & which in turn she files at the courthouse to have the mortgage lien lifted & property has a clear title which show mom as owner. That hasn’t happened if there still mortgage payments happening. Mom doesn’t own house.
I’m going to guess that what mom did was a QCD -Quit Claim Deed to you from her. QCD are problematic in that they do not guarantee ownership (like a Warranty Deed does); but QCDs transfer what the owner “thinks” they own whether or not they legally do. Only until mortgage is paid off can mom own property and transfer or sell it.
To me you have 2 different problems in this..... - real estate attorney questions as to validity of property transfer and it’s pretty important as 2004 -if valid - puts it outside of the 5 yr look back for Medicaid. - elder law atty issues as whether or not Medicaid can allow her to have the house considered an exempt asset for Medicaid as QCD & payment of mortgage may be considered gifting. Really mom needs attorneys to review all the old Paperwork work done.
Don’t stall in doing this as - to me - you need to know ASAP to determine a plan for how mom will pay for care & how house costs gets dealt with and figure this out BEFORE she ever does a Medicaid application.
One thing to keep in mind is that mom is allowed under Medicaid rules to continue to own her home as an exempt asset HOWEVER under those rules she is required to do a copay of basically all her monthly income (like her SS) to the NH. Mom will have no-none-nada of her $ anymore to pay on anything house. If family want mom to continue to keep home, then family will have to pay for all (insurance, taxes, utilities, maintenance, etc,) and from day 1 of NHMedicaid till after she dies and family deals with the house as an asset of her estate & probably both Medicaid estate recovery and probate. So can you totally on your own afford all the costs - including mortgage - on the property? And keep this up for possibly years? It can be done but family will need the wallet to afford all and keep meticulous records on all costs paid on the empty property. The Medicaid copay requirement of NH residents income often comes as a total surprise to family.
I'd agree with Sunnygirl. The fact that your mother is still making mortgage payments for a house no longer titled in her name might be problematic.
Is there some reason why you're not making the payments? I think what you'll need to find out is whether your mother still has a vested interest since she is making the mortgage payments. And of course she's still obligated to continue to do so, so that's an indebtedness that might affect her eligibility for assistance, since she's literally making payments on a house to which she no longer has title.
Yes, since there is a mortgage that equate to giving you a gift each and every month equal to the mortgage payment. You could purchase it from her for fair market value then she could afford the care she needs.
Different rules may apply is you provided medically necessary care for two years prior to her entering a nursing home. Yes, only nursing home not assisted living.
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The individual holding title is the owner; a mortgagee holds a lien, not title. It does not own the property; it has a secured interest against it. Thus, owner owns the property, subject to the secured interest of the mortgagee.
The owner can sell the property; the secured interest would have to be discharged.
A mortgagee can sell property ONLY under certain circumstances, set forth in the mortgage, as to conditions under which it may assert that right and acquire ownership. Tax defaults, unacceptable use of property and mortgage default (leading to ownership by foreclosure) are some of the conditions under which a mortgagee can acquire ownership.
If there is a mortgage on a property then until mortgage is paid off or otherwise satisfied, it is not owned by mom. The title / Deed of Trust is held by mortgage co. When mortgage is paid off then they would issue to your mom a “Release of Deed of Trust” & which in turn she files at the courthouse to have the mortgage lien lifted & property has a clear title which show mom as owner. That hasn’t happened if there still mortgage payments happening. Mom doesn’t own house.
I’m going to guess that what mom did was a QCD -Quit Claim Deed to you from her. QCD are problematic in that they do not guarantee ownership (like a Warranty Deed does); but QCDs transfer what the owner “thinks” they own whether or not they legally do. Only until mortgage is paid off can mom own property and transfer or sell it.
To me you have 2 different problems in this.....
- real estate attorney questions as to validity of property transfer and it’s pretty important as 2004 -if valid - puts it outside of the 5 yr look back for Medicaid.
- elder law atty issues as whether or not Medicaid can allow her to have the house considered an exempt asset for Medicaid as QCD & payment of mortgage may be considered gifting.
Really mom needs attorneys to review all the old Paperwork work done.
Don’t stall in doing this as - to me - you need to know ASAP to determine a plan for how mom will pay for care & how house costs gets dealt with and figure this out BEFORE she ever does a Medicaid application.
One thing to keep in mind is that mom is allowed under Medicaid rules to continue to own her home as an exempt asset HOWEVER under those rules she is required to do a copay of basically all her monthly income (like her SS) to the NH. Mom will have no-none-nada of her $ anymore to pay on anything house. If family want mom to continue to keep home, then family will have to pay for all (insurance, taxes, utilities, maintenance, etc,) and from day 1 of NHMedicaid till after she dies and family deals with the house as an asset of her estate & probably both Medicaid estate recovery and probate. So can you totally on your own afford all the costs - including mortgage - on the property? And keep this up for possibly years? It can be done but family will need the wallet to afford all and keep meticulous records on all costs paid on the empty property. The Medicaid copay requirement of NH residents income often comes as a total surprise to family.
Is there some reason why you're not making the payments? I think what you'll need to find out is whether your mother still has a vested interest since she is making the mortgage payments. And of course she's still obligated to continue to do so, so that's an indebtedness that might affect her eligibility for assistance, since she's literally making payments on a house to which she no longer has title.
Different rules may apply is you provided medically necessary care for two years prior to her entering a nursing home. Yes, only nursing home not assisted living.