If Mom has to move into assisted living, her transportation should be covered. Will I still be able to drive her car or will she be required to sell it to pay for care, based on Medicaid look back? At that point, can she just sell it to me at fair market value?
If this is accurate, Medicaid will allow Mom to own an old car, even when she lives in a nursing home and doesn't drive. I will be allowed to drive the car. However, there will be no allowance for upkeep and title in her name alone, may be (probably will be) a problem with the insurance company.
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The mileage on the car is primarily for my work, not for taking Mom places, so I can imagine Medicaid would have a problem with that if I buy a newer car and have both our names on the title. I'm considering trading in our two old cars for a new car before they konk out completely. We're currently in "spend-down" mode and Mom doesn't qualify for Medicaid, yet. I was wondering if I can purchase a little bit better car using some of Mom's money. By the time she needs to sell assets, the depreciation on the car should be within my affordable range and I can "buy her out" of her half of the ownership.
Here is the story on the car(s): About 8 yrs ago, Mom and I put both our names on titles of both our older cars (1994, 1997), in order to bundle insurance with our home. Our house is owned jointly, too (JT on title with both names). I won't be able to afford the house on my own and will lose it, but that's a whole 'nuther problem.
I know she will be allowed to keep one car and her half of the house. Does this apply when she won't be returning to live in the house?
You should give some thought about issues that could happen if you are driving her car and there is an accident or it's stolen and if the auto insurance company will honor the policy.
If she "sells" it to you, then the $ from the sale is now $ that becomes an asset and their assets need to be about 2K - 2,200K max (the rate differs from state to state) so the $ you pay her for the car needs to be spent down to Medicaid asset level. If she "gifts" it to you, the Blue Book value of the car could be subject to a Medicaid transfer penalty. You need to figure out which way works best for you - if the car is worth very little or is worth several thousand $$. Title transfers are recorded by the state and the local tax assessor, so the sale or transfer will eventually come up and could be a red flag issue for Medicaid.