Follow
Share
Find Care & Housing
Is it the situation that your Sister is now on a State Medicaid “waiver” that is paying for her AL? I’m assuming she is and why you are posting, my answer is based on this being the case. Basically once on these programs, Sis will default on CC and any other debts. Like if she has a mortgage, it will go unpaid by her. Ditto for car loans. It’s really common for this to happen for those on LTC Medicaid program who are in a NH/SNF or those on a Medicaid waiver from either the LTC program or the HCBS program, as these programs require the resident to pay almost all her monthly income (like her SS $, pension) as a Share of Cost to the NH.

Share of Cost required unless they are married or have a dependent.

All she gets to keep is whatever her State has as its Personal Needs Allowance. PNA tend to be in the $50-$75 range & restricted spending. If she has made the NH her representative payee for her SSA, the NH gets her SS $ directly and they should be setting aside her PNA into an at-the-NH/AL resident trust account. She or her POA can go and make a withdrawal from it to buy things she needs. (My mom’s NH had an old fashioned ledger for withdrawals @ the business office & did a statement every 90 days & beauty shoppe paid from it every 2 weeks). PNA is - in theory - to be used for things not covered by living in the facility. So haircuts, clothing are ok. While mortgage, utilities are not.

CC seem to be a grey area for using PNA $…… but it tends not to make sense to pay CC as she will likely not ever be able to pay it off in full due to the Share of Cost requirement. So letting it default makes more sense as enables her to use PNA $ to get haircuts, some clothing and toiletries replacement, books, snacks. SS income cannot be attached by most creditors (like CC companies) by an judgement.

EXCEPT for “super creditors”, they can attach income. The “supers” are State and Fed governments. This is actually kinda important…… why? Well what will eventually happen is the Original Creditor/ OC will write the debt off. Could be done this 2026 tax year or could be 2027 or even 2028. Whichever will produce a 1099-C sent to your mom for the amount of the full Cancellation of the Debt. It will be what the balance was plus interest and whatever fees the OC can tack on. So a 15K VISA and 8K Macys CC can morph into a $ 19,876 and a $10,987 1099-Cs. Here is what’s important: 1099-C IS TAXABLE INCOME that is reported to the IRS. Like for the example, it would be $30,863 in taxable income reported to the IRS. Sis is expected to pay taxes AND BECAUSE the IRS is a supercreditor, they can attach some of her SS income if taxes are not paid. Which is a problem as due to Medicaid’s SOC requirements, she can’t do both the SOC and have IRS attach some of her monthly income.

What will need to happen is for you to get a CPA or tax pro to do taxes for her for the year(s) she gets the 1099-C. They will do a Form 982 to deal with the debt to hopefully get it excluded from taxable income. So it’s not owed = no supercreditor attachment happens. Imo it’s not really something you can DIY. Mom can use whatever $ she has for assets to pay for this. Most States allow those on LTC & waiver Medicaid to have up to 2K in exempt assets. A couple of States allow for higher assets.

ALSO: When she defaults, the OC will write the debt off AND will sell the debt to a debt collector. They will be relentless in trying to find anyone to assume the responsibility for the debt. It will be resold to an ever lower level of debt collector. Then again & again. Relentless. So please pls do a bit of research to help decide on how you will deal with this as you do NOT want to ever get caught off guard and inadvertently take the responsibility for her debts.
Helpful Answer (2)
Reply to igloo572
Report

Going into assisted living does not erase someone's debts when they owe money. If your sister has credit card debt she is responsible for it being paid out of her funds. No one else is responsible for paying it. The credit card companies will often try to get family to pay it, but you are not legally obligated to pay even if you're the POA. If there's no money, there's no money. The credit card company will have to absorb the loss. Credit cards being recklessly run up and not paid for is the reason why even people with excellent credit have to pay huge interest.
Helpful Answer (3)
Reply to BurntCaregiver
Report

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter