Can Medicaid take my home to pay expenses for my stepfather if my mom's name is on my house?
My mother and I bought a house together 17 years ago. I now live in the house with my own family. My stepfather has recently gone into the nursing home and I am wondering if Medicaid can take my house when his insurance runs out.
Willow - here’s the sticky imo..... as parents are married their assets are shared. Like what Rovana wrote. So whatever % of ownership your mom has on the property that you own & your family live in will more than likely be considered parents joint assets. So how Deed is registered is mucho importante. Look at how tax bill & the Deed reads as those should do match up to if 2 owners or 3. Mistakes can be made in recording at the courthouse so read all carefully.
BUT the sticky continues as Medicaid is required to attempt a recovery of services paid for (like your dads NH stay) from the assets of the estate of deceased. Done via MERP & how done varies by your states approach to property rights & probate. Like some states do not attempt recovery at all if there is a surviving spouse living in the home, but other states do but wait till they die to do recovery on property. Plus MERP has all sorts of exemptions & exclusions as well as a cost benefit requirement. Your situation to me really needs good legal to review to see exactly what % ownership is and how MERP tends to run in your state so you can come up with a plan. Also if your paying all property costs (so mom isn’t paying her % ownership of taxes, insurance, upkeep), I’d ask atty how to deal with that. Yeah it’s going to be a time consuming butt-rash but better this now than years from now trying to sell house (or use it as collateral) and find there is a Medicaid lien on it and it kills the deal. The elder law atty will have a real estate atty they work with to deal with that aspect.
If your mom's name is on the house, then presumably it would count as her asset, and thus a marital asset should your mom's husband apply for Medicaid. I believe you need to check if it is in fact, in your state, considered a marital asset, because Medicaid considers all marital assets of the couple, I believe. Igloo has lots of information on this subject - look for her post.
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BUT the sticky continues as Medicaid is required to attempt a recovery of services paid for (like your dads NH stay) from the assets of the estate of deceased. Done via MERP & how done varies by your states approach to property rights & probate. Like some states do not attempt recovery at all if there is a surviving spouse living in the home, but other states do but wait till they die to do recovery on property. Plus MERP has all sorts of exemptions & exclusions as well as a cost benefit requirement. Your situation to me really needs good legal to review to see exactly what % ownership is and how MERP tends to run in your state so you can come up with a plan. Also if your paying all property costs (so mom isn’t paying her % ownership of taxes, insurance, upkeep), I’d ask atty how to deal with that. Yeah it’s going to be a time consuming butt-rash but better this now than years from now trying to sell house (or use it as collateral) and find there is a Medicaid lien on it and it kills the deal. The elder law atty will have a real estate atty they work with to deal with that aspect.
Out of curiosity what is house value?
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