Bequests for Medicare recipients?

I should have stated that it's my will that wants to leave a bequest to Mom. I thought it was understandable since it said Mom's bequest. Sorry!

User - your posts to me are confusing.... is about finding a way to place cash, like liquid $ to be outside of post death Medicaid estate recovery?

If thats it, imo $ goes into something that falls outside of probate. & paperwork happens 5 years before a medicaid LTC application filed.

Bank accounts can be set to be POD (pay on death) to someone. These fall outside of probate. Banks do these easily if the account holder is competent to do them & has the PODs info. Some banks require POD to appear in person to do signature cards & present valid ID.

If there’s significant cash assets those might get placed into irrevocable Trust years & years ahead of ever applying for any type of Medicaid- both community based and LTC NH. And imo needs to be real $, like mid six figures to do the Trust so there’s $ to have investments to “feed” the Trust costs & increase its value. Estate atty do Trusts all the time & deal with the tax filings needed. Not a DIY.

If this is a much smaller amount of cash, imo your wasting your time trying to find a way to place it & hope get around Medicaid.
Do a “spend down”, spend on items that helps their health & living needs now or costs that will happen after death, like buy a burial fully paid preneed policy, get dental work done, take them to speciality MD appointments & whatever follow up needed, buy new & multiple pairs of eyeglasses & hearing aids, buy a Better quality wheelchair or walker. Dental is rarely if ever covered by LTC Medicaid & could easily run six figures. They get their legal updated. These are all legit spend downs.

If they apply for medicaid, they have to submit all their financials & up to 5 years worth to any acct their name & SS# is attached to. There will be no special set aside that Medicaid will overlook & not count unless there’s a community spouse or other legal dependent. For LTC Medicaid they have to be “at need” both financially and medically. As others have said by & large for financial it’s under 2k in nonexempt assets. That’s it $2,000.00. For medical its being “at need” for skilled nursing care in a NH with documentation unless your state does AL waivers.

Drawing up documents really best left to legal. She has $, see atty.
Please don’t do a will on your own. Trying to get a holographic will allowed by court to be valid likely to be difficult. An atty will likely have to find 2-4 folks who can attest to knowing her & her signature & that takes time & $ to do. And even then judge might put it under dependent administration, which take more time & detail to happen. Really meet with elder law atty to do will/ codicil & see if anything else can be done.

If your elder is needing skilled care now or looking like needing it in the very near future, the days of doing any creative Medicaid planning have passed. There’s no 5 yr availability. That 🚢 has sailed imo.

User, if your mother goes into a Nursing Home and Medicaid (aka the taxpayer) is paying the bill, then all of her funds will need to be used for her care. For a single person to qualify for Nursing Home Medicaid in most states, the asset limit is 2K.

Check with an elder law attorney. I do not know the answer.

This person only wants to leave her money if she doesn't need it for medical care?

user - ? for you..... is it that someone in your family wants to leave $ or assets to a family member who is or will likely be in a NH on Medicaid?

Is that what you are trying to figure out how to do?
If so, what kind of assets? Like just $ or property or to be beneficiary of life Insurance policy? If it’s $ is it a good amount of $, like 100k++ or are you talking like 15k - 50k range?

This is hard to explain. What ever money Mom has is hers for her care. Not sure if Medicaid would recognize a Bequest that you have written up. Its not legally binding. Lets say Mom has a will leaving everything to u and sister. Medicaid does not recognize wills. Whatever assets (except a home and thats another story) it goes to her care. Thats bonds, stocks, shares, CDs, IRAs and insurance policies with cash in value. To receive Medicaid, she can only have maybe 2k in her acct and that is for her personally. So when she passes, there really is not a Will if she had to use all her assets for her care.

You need to talk to a lawyer versed in Medicare. Any trusts or changes in ownership of property have be done before the five year look back. If not, they are void.

userRTE, it is best to make an appointment with an "Elder Law Attorney" to make sure whatever language is being used in a Will is correct.

One misplaced or missing word can cause difficulty.

You mentioned "Medicare", was wondering if your meant "Medicaid" which is different. Medicaid is used when a person cannot budget for Assisted Living and needs Nursing Home care. Medicaid will pay for room/board and care. Medicaid will want to be reimbursed for funds used for your Mom's care by attaching a lien onto a home she may own, etc. Medicaid is funded by us taxpayers.