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No, you cannot transfer the house to yourself. Medicaid goes back 5 yrs and no transfers should be made or large amounts of money should be given in that time. If you are POA, you cannot enrich yourself in any way. The house will be considered an unexempt asset. But, someone will have to pay the bills, taxes and upkeep. If Mom has no money and no one is willing to keep the house up, then it needs to be sold and that money goes towards Moms care.
If you live with Mom and have taken care of her for 2 years, you maybe able to claim Caregivers allowance if she is on Medicaid. This means you can stay in the home but you may have to pay taxes, bills and upkeep. Best thing, consult with an Elder Lawyer.
Even if your mother is wealthy and will be paying her own way at the nursing home there is probably language in your POA about gifting and about enriching yourself. No one will let you make this transfer using a POA that says you can't.
Don’t take this action without thoroughly understanding its possible implications. If mom needs Medicaid to pay for nursing home care, this will be considered her gifting you and likely get her denied. Medicaid will pore back over her finances for the last five years and part of that includes seeing if she attempted to hide assets. This is fair as Medicaid is a program for people without resources to pay for care. My mother used it when her long term care insurance policy ran out. Your best option is consulting an attorney well versed in Medicaid and elder care.
Howuzdoin, welcome to the forum. Transferring the house to yourself has Capital Gain issues when it comes to income taxes. When the time comes to sell the house later down the road, you would need to use the price that your Mom paid for the house when she bought it. And the Capital Gain income taxes could be expensive if you Mom had owned the house for many years, and the value had gone up considerably.
If you inherited the house, the formula used for Capital Gain taxes is what the house was worth when you inherited it. Thus the income taxes would be much lower.
Just how comfortable are you on dealing with risk? & just how much $ does mom have excluding the value of that home?
Heres why I ask…. if mom has 400K or more in savings or investments she can liquidate, imo she’s good for private paying for future care; no worries, transfer the house. But if that’s not her $ situation and she were to transfer her home to you next month, she would be “gifting” an asset of hers. Her house has a value & it usually is whatever was last property tax bill valuation. Should your mom need between now and June, 2031 be medically “at need” to go into a facility AND on her own did not have $ to private pay for abt 3 years, she would also be “at need” financially, then elders in that situation file for LTC Medicaid program. It’s this specific Medicaid that will pay for custodial care costs in a facility. HOWEVER this program has a very detailed lookback as to just where their $ and their assets went past 5 years (for most States) for eligibility. Her asset transfer of that house will place a transfer penalty on her application. Penalty is done by days.
The rub in all this is that for almost all LTC Medicaid applications they are actually in the NH at the time. A bill each day their application is processing. When house gifting surfaces (fwiw it will & quickly as a few keystrokes for State caseworker to discover), they get a transfer penalty placed. The facility get notified of this as well and will require mom to settle her bill and have someone do a financial responsibility agreement in order for her to stay there. If not, the facility will find a way to get her out & turn the bill to collections. Gifting runs risk.
On a tangent on your situation, as y’all have been living in her home for 2+ years, you may be eligible to have a caregiver exemption to the required attempt of Medicaid Estate Recovery. You would have to truly be her full time caregiver with no other job and have documentation from her MD or her SW as to the necessity for her to have full time care provider. This is imo not a DIY to do but requires mom and you to both work with an elder law attorney familiar with just how Medicaid and its Estate Recovery system works. House would - in my understanding- remain in her name even when she goes into a NH and onto LTC Medicaid; it would transfer to you after her death and you would file the exemption after she dies.
Elders on LTC Medicaid can by & large continue to own their home as an exempt asset for their lifetime. The issue will be that as they have to have almost all income paid to the NH as required Share of Cost, they have zero $ to pay house costs. It’s on family to do this and then deal with their Estate, probate and recovery system. Very much details for your attorney to suss out.
let’s say mom #1 is in TX, and after 3 years of inhome caregiving by her daughter FT, mom moves into a NH. Mom gets $2300 SS$ & fully paid off 400K home. Mom has $1700 left in savings and has been in the NH private pay thru this month. POA daughter files for LTC Medicaid as mom under 2K in assets, under $2901 in income and under the 750K home as an exempt asset. Mom has done no gifting. Mom is Medicaid Pending, pays NH $2,225 ea mo as her required Share of Cost; retaining only $75 for incidentals. Her application is approved in abt 4 months. Her home stays as it is BUT daughter has to pay all costs on it. After mom dies, daughter files exemption to Estate Recovery.
lets say mom #2 is exactly the same but gifted her 400K home within past 5 years. Her State LTC Medicaid reimburses NH $280 day for care. That would be abt a 1,429 day transfer penalty period in which LTC Medicaid will not pay a penny. Penalty starts the date the application was filed. Mom will have weeks if not 3-4 months of NH bills that have to be paid for her to stay. Or family moves them back home & deals with bill collectors.
The risk is real. & why an experienced attorney matters! This isn’t DIY territory.
I think you should be very careful about transferring the house at this point because nursing homes are crazy expensive and she might eventually need to go on Medicaid. If you transfer the house less than five years before she applies the house transfer is considered a gift and is subject to a five year look back.
Medicaid rules vary from state to state and I would consult an eldercare attorney to get the appropriate answer in your state. This decision is complicated and needs to be carefully thought out.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
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APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
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If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
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This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
If you live with Mom and have taken care of her for 2 years, you maybe able to claim Caregivers allowance if she is on Medicaid. This means you can stay in the home but you may have to pay taxes, bills and upkeep. Best thing, consult with an Elder Lawyer.
If you inherited the house, the formula used for Capital Gain taxes is what the house was worth when you inherited it. Thus the income taxes would be much lower.
Heres why I ask…. if mom has 400K or more in savings or investments she can liquidate, imo she’s good for private paying for future care; no worries, transfer the house. But if that’s not her $ situation and she were to transfer her home to you next month, she would be “gifting” an asset of hers. Her house has a value & it usually is whatever was last property tax bill valuation. Should your mom need between now and June, 2031 be medically “at need” to go into a facility AND on her own did not have $ to private pay for abt 3 years, she would also be “at need” financially, then elders in that situation file for LTC Medicaid program. It’s this specific Medicaid that will pay for custodial care costs in a facility.
HOWEVER
this program has a very detailed lookback as to just where their $ and their assets went past 5 years (for most States) for eligibility. Her asset transfer of that house will place a transfer penalty on her application. Penalty is done by days.
The rub in all this is that for almost all LTC Medicaid applications they are actually in the NH at the time. A bill each day their application is processing. When house gifting surfaces (fwiw it will & quickly as a few keystrokes for State caseworker to discover), they get a transfer penalty placed. The facility get notified of this as well and will require mom to settle her bill and have someone do a financial responsibility agreement in order for her to stay there. If not, the facility will find a way to get her out & turn the bill to collections. Gifting runs risk.
On a tangent on your situation, as y’all have been living in her home for 2+ years, you may be eligible to have a caregiver exemption to the required attempt of Medicaid Estate Recovery. You would have to truly be her full time caregiver with no other job and have documentation from her MD or her SW as to the necessity for her to have full time care provider. This is imo not a DIY to do but requires mom and you to both work with an elder law attorney familiar with just how Medicaid and its Estate Recovery system works. House would - in my understanding- remain in her name even when she goes into a NH and onto LTC Medicaid; it would transfer to you after her death and you would file the exemption after she dies.
Elders on LTC Medicaid can by & large continue to own their home as an exempt asset for their lifetime. The issue will be that as they have to have almost all income paid to the NH as required Share of Cost, they have zero $ to pay house costs. It’s on family to do this and then deal with their Estate, probate and recovery system. Very much details for your attorney to suss out.
let’s say mom #1 is in TX, and after 3 years of inhome caregiving by her daughter FT, mom moves into a NH. Mom gets $2300 SS$ & fully paid off 400K home. Mom has $1700 left in savings and has been in the NH private pay thru this month. POA daughter files for LTC Medicaid as mom under 2K in assets, under $2901 in income and under the 750K home as an exempt asset. Mom has done no gifting. Mom is Medicaid Pending, pays NH $2,225 ea mo as her required Share of Cost; retaining only $75 for incidentals. Her application is approved in abt 4 months. Her home stays as it is BUT daughter has to pay all costs on it. After mom dies, daughter files exemption to Estate Recovery.
lets say mom #2 is exactly the same but gifted her 400K home within past 5 years. Her State LTC Medicaid reimburses NH $280 day for care. That would be abt a 1,429 day transfer penalty period in which LTC Medicaid will not pay a penny. Penalty starts the date the application was filed. Mom will have weeks if not 3-4 months of NH bills that have to be paid for her to stay. Or family moves them back home & deals with bill collectors.
The risk is real. & why an experienced attorney matters! This isn’t DIY territory.
Medicaid rules vary from state to state and I would consult an eldercare attorney to get the appropriate answer in your state. This decision is complicated and needs to be carefully thought out.