After Maria’s husband died, Maria’s daughter Debby persuaded her to sell the family home and move into Debby’s mother-in-law cottage. That way they could stay close, and Maria could invest the money from the sale in a nest egg on which she could live comfortably. The house sold for a handsome sum, Maria moved in, and life was good.
Unfortunately, soon after Maria had a serious stroke and she ended up needing care she could only receive in a nursing home. Maria and Debby hadn’t consulted a lawyer, so they had done no advance planning. The value of Maria’s estate far exceeded the limits to qualify for Medicaid assistance, and Maria ended up spending everything she owned on the nursing home.
If only she had consulted experienced elder law counsel at least five years before, she could have saved her entire estate for Debby’s inheritance. Not only that. There are ways to structure the sale of the home so that Maria could have saved the money, paid off Debby’s mortgage, and still qualified for Medicaid! Even if Maria and Debby had waited until Maria went into the nursing home, counsel still could have protected around one half of Maria’s estate.
The law permits elders to save, to allocate their money, and to qualify for Medicaid. This knowledge is what you pay an elder law attorney for. The money Maria could have paid, for that educated guidance, could have been the best investment of all.