I live in California and my mother has been living with me for a few years. Before that, I took care of her in her home. I couldn't keep up the pace of caring for her and her home, so we finally sold her house. I am wondering how long California will hold her sale against her for Medi-Cal. She only ended up with $50,000.00 out of it and that was 1 year ago. She had strokes and I can't keep caring for her myself because I'm in heart failure along with other things. The care she requires is too extensive for me to feel comfortable doing. It goes beyond my abilities. I put her in assisted living and it is running us and her out of money. Does anyone know CA laws? She is getting hospice, but I still can't afford $3,200 each month.
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Im guessing this is the big concern, amirite?
If so, imho, you really need to find a attorney to go over ALL the paperwork…. And I mean all… like that done & filed at the courthouse on parents paying off of the mortgage and on whatever was filed to probate after dad died (to establish the validity of his will and it’s terms) to making sure the change in its ownership from dad&mom to mom & you was done correctly. ((fwiw It’s sadly not usual for documentation not be be filed in a timely manner but it still can happen, like my parents did not file the Release of the Deed of Trust back in the 1960’s, dad just put the document in his safe deposit box as back then that’s what was done; and when he died in the 1980’s house transferred to mom via his pour over will and it wasn’t till moms probate that I filed that vintage Release of Deed of Trust actually at the courthouse as now you have to have the full chain filed at the courthouse to clearly establish no clouds on a title.)) My point is you still can deal with this, don’t fret it too too much. So if it actually sold for 100K but mom got 50K, you do have to be able to show to Medicaid why 50K was her proper $ amount. It’s there in the documents somewhere. Ferreting thru legal filings at the courthouse or in a safe deposit box or stored in a shoebox really isn’t for the most of us a DIY. Please get with an elder law atty and try to find one that has affiliations with guys that do property/ real estate work and do probate and they can do what’s needed.
also if need be, please realize that the AL where she is in now can likely find a reason for mom needing to go to the ER to be evaluated for a concern. (Often they will say it looks like she’s having a TIA transient ischemic attack they are kinda subjective). If that happens, the AL can say they cannot have her return as her level of care is beyond what they can do, then the discharge planner at the hospital will either try to get mom to get discharged to a SNF/NH as a patient for “rehab” (which MediCARE pays for) or find a residential placement for mom at a SNF / NH (medi-cal pays for room&board at a Nh), Whatever the case, you do not, again YOU DO NOT take her back into your home. Mom will eventually do the MediCal LTC paperwork at the NH/SNF and things will work out. Attorney may need to find/file info to clarify the house ownership and that her 50K was valid. But it will work out. Take care of your own heart health as your main priority, ok. & Good Luck!
When she has spent down all her assets, including the profit from the home, then she is eligible for Medi-cal. Just be certain you have your records all together of your Mom's assets, when sold, her expenses, her checking account, and etc. Lookback for California is 2 1/2 years.
If there was something unusual about how the home was sold, or to whom, you should consult an elder law attorney with your question.
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What I don’t know is whether the state regards assessed value as fair market. My in laws house for example is assessed at about one tenth the present value as they were in it before Prop 13.
Regardless, I would get her situated in a facility, preferably one that takes MediCal, and have them deal with the transition to that.