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Catwoman911 Asked February 2018

Joint account with elderly Alzheimer’s mother. Can I use money to pay bills?

Guestshopadmin Feb 2018
If you end up applying for Medicaid, you will be providing 5 years of bank statements about sources of income and bills paid. Don’t mix your money with hers and pay bills that are yours or it could trigger a penalty where Medicaid would not pay for services.

SueC1957 Feb 2018
Yes, as long as both of your names appear on the account then you are co-owners or joint owners. It belongs to both of you and both have access to the money.

My mother put me on her accounts as joint owner when she realized she needed assistance to pay the bills. I've been doing it ever since.

A side note-
She had a credit card that we didn't put my name on. (I didn't want it.) When mother became more mentally debilitated she couldn't use the card. I went to the bank to cancel the card. They wouldn't! They said SHE'D have to cancel it. She was in a memory facility in Rosarito, Mexico. I brought the paperwork from the doctor stating she was incompetent to handle her own affairs from Alzheimer's stage 5. Nope!
Only when I told them that THEY would then be responsible for any charge that appeared on that card, is when they cancelled it! What a ridiculous situation.

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