I am disable through SS and I have my mother living with me for two years I have been taking care if her it's getting harder and harder to do because of her decline in health. She doesn't have Medicaid her income is to high $4,000 a month.but I read this on this site and was wondering if this could be done so she could receive Medicaid and get into an assisted living because now she can't afford one . Her income is $4,000 and her bills are $1,600 a month and the centers run $5,400 to 10,000 what can we do?
Her $4000 monthly income will be used for her care. Call an attorney and call Medicaid.
If she's living with you in your home, it's hard to understand how she could have $1600 a month in bills. What kinds of bills are they?
Have you investigated hiring outside help to assist your mother?
Whomever inherits the house must realize that he/she will need to continue to pay on that mortgage, the taxes, insurance, etc.
Now, if that mortgage is a Reverse Mortgage, that's a whole different and very complex ballgame.... whomever inherits the house will be required to refinance to pay back the Reverse Mortgage within a certain time frame [30-90 days depending on the loan, along with interest and fees] or the house would need to be sold.
If your mom goes into a nursing home and needs to qualify for Medicaid, as mentioned above, you will need to contact an Elder Law attorney to instruct you both on how that works regarding Medicaid taking the house to help pay for your mom's care, and if you qualify to keep the house being disabled.
Is your Mom's house sitting vacant or are there tenants in the house? Or are you and Mom living in her house? If the house is vacant, that can be costly as house insurance is much higher on a vacant house, lawn must be mowed [if it isn't a condo], electricity still needs to be paid, etc.
A Elder Law Attorney is your best bet now, as all of what you have said has become complex.
That could really be problematic if a mortgagee had to approve trust language. I can't think of a reason why it would need to or even have the right of that kind of review.
TW, I'm going to address an issue which hasn't been raised before, and I want to emphasize that I'm not being critical, but just realistic.
Your mother's income is substantial; in fact it's more than I ever made when I was working, and I had what I considered well paying jobs.
Someone reviewing her situation and financial condition might wonder why her expenses are so high given that she's living with you, and what could be done to cut the expenses to make an AL facility more affordable. Suggestions might be made that you attempt to cut her expenses and reallocate those freed up funds either for a placement cost or to bring in people to assist in her care.
I think the issue of her income is going to be the deciding factor in even considering applying for Medicaid, but I'm not well versed in this subject.
I would think, though, that you've gone to the expense of adding space for her, so perhaps you could refocus and think how you could maximize that addition, with outside help as needed. Even bringing in outside help wouldn't come close to the huge cost of an AL placement.
Back to the issue of a trust, you probably should explore that issue with an estate planning attorney. With an income of $4k, I imagine that your mother has some assets and it would be wise to explore options of planning for minimal taxation when she passes (not to be maudlin, but just cautionary).
I hope you find some solutions which benefit you and your family and give you comfort in knowing that you're doing the best you can for your mother.
Thinking it over, I understand now. Generally it would be a breach of the terms of a mortgage to convey property subject to that mortgage, without first acquiring the mortgagee's consent. Some banks are very strict about that and consider it an unlawful and unpermitted transfer, which is generally an event of default.
But I believe that usually those provisions are intended to prevent the mortgagor from conveying the property to another individual, rather than a trust. Still, it's an interesting issue with which I hadn't been familiar before, i.e., in terms of the retitling of property into a trust.
I think you have a very good attorney.