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My mother in law in is a nursing home for 7 months. We have $100,000.00 in savings for her care, We are waiting on the VA to see what she will qualify for. We currently have her house up for sale. Can we give a cash gift to children or an all expense paid trip from grandma? What i worry about is if she lives a long time 87 now and runs out of money, then we have to go on title 19 can we get in trouble for gifting cash or trip. Will they come after us and make us paid it back ?? We live in iowa Thanks Dee just now sure what to do?

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Hi Dee,

My dad has barely a nickel to his name. He too is in a nursing home. He used to have money and now it's gone and we are kicking ourselves for not keeping a closer eye on dad's finances because he is in desperate need even with Medicaid. I truly appreciate your wanting to do something nice for family and you still can but take care of a few things first: Purchase funeral arrangements for your MIL, get that out of the way. It's an acceptable spend down to Medicaid and at least you'll know that you have that taken care of. Because of my dad's financial situation we're afraid that we'll have to cremate him in the fireplace.

Consult an elder law attorney about setting up a trust. I don't know all of the in's and out's of this but an elder law attorney can help you figure out how much money you'll need for a worst case scenario (MIL could live another 10 years).

Take care of any financial obligations your MIL has. Outstanding debts, loans, etc.

Once you've taken care of things like this then, with the guidance of your elder care attorney, decide what you'd like to do for your family. I think it's a lovely gesture and I'm sure it will bring your MIL great pleasure to know that she's doing something wonderful for her family. But take care of business first.
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If she is going to need Medicaid at some point, giving away money now, in any form -- as cash, vacations, gifts -- will probably result in a penalty down the road. People are expected to take care of their own needs with their money. Those who receive the gifts will not be expected to pay the money back ... but Medicaid won't be paying for MIL's care for a penalty period. Who will?

I don't know the rules for VA assistance.

See a financial planner or an attorney who specializes in elder law, if you want full details about options.
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Dee,
Does this $100,000 in savings belong to your MIL; is it money she saved? If this is the case then it should be used for her health care. I don't know what the laws are in Iowa, but here in Texas, should a person apply for Medicaid for help in paying for a nursing home, the state will look back 5 years to find out if money was given away as gifts, etc. If this is the case in Iowa, your MIL would not be able to receive Medicaid help for a period of years if it were found that she gave her money away, even if she was at the point where she had no money left. This would include any money that she has, including the income from the sale of her house, assuming that the house is in her name. Whether it is her idea to give cash gifts or trips, or your idea, you need to think twice over before doing something rash with the money she will need to survive on.
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100,000.00 her savings
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