Assets

• Article - Revocable Living Trusts: A Beginner's Guide

  Revocable Living Trusts: A Beginner's Guide. A revocable living trust is one of the most important documents for parents to have in their estate plan.

• Buying Guide - A Buyer's Guide to Reverse Mortgages

  This free buyer's guide to reverse mortgages will help you understand how reverse mortgages work and what to look for in a reverse mortgage.

• Article - Power of Attorney for Finances: A Beginner's Guide

  Power of attorney designates who handles financial affairs when your parent is incapacitated. This article covers the basics of power of attorney.

• Article - Estate Planning Basics

  Estate planning manages money and property during life and passes it to survivors after death. Know what the basic estate planning documents can do.

Blog Posts

• Blog Post - My brother won't share financial information about our dad's assets, and it's tearing the family apart.

  My brother has durable power of attorney for my dad...

• Blog Post - Assisted Living in Challenging Times -- Planning Is the Key

  Assisted living faces rising costs and other pressures, which makes planning for assisted living both challenging and necessary.

Questions & Answers

• Question - What do I need to apply for Medicaid for my mother, for whom I'm guardian?

  To apply for Medicaid, you need records of income and assets. If it's for nursing home care, you need financial transactions from the past 5 years.

• Question - Are family corporations good or bad?

  My parents set up a family corporation to pass along their assets. Is a family corporation a good way to do this and to avoid taxes?

• Question - Does the Veterans Administration have any claim on my parent’s estate?

  Does the VA or our state have any claim on my parent’s estate?

• Question - Is there a minimum amount below which Medicaid doesn't bother to check asset transfers?

  For nursing home coverage, Medicaid may look at how the applicant has spent any amount, or transferred property, over the previous five years.

• Question - Is there a time limit on making a revocable trust before entering a nursing home?

  A revocable trust does not protect assets from consideration by Medicaid regarding eligibility for nursing home coverage.

• Question - Will there be any difficulty withdrawing funds from joint accounts that my mother and I share?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What's a Totten Trust and how does it work?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Does a note on a house affect a trust?

  Putting a house in a living trust has little affect on a mortgage still owed on it.

• Question - Is there any software available to help track and organize yearly costs for a guardian taking care of a parent?

  The biggest challenge in tracking guardianship expenses may be to focus on the categories to include.

• Question - Is an IRA counted as an asset by Medicaid?

  Does Medicaid consider an IRA an asset? Medicaid counts IRAs as assets when assessing eligibility, unless you spent them over 60 months before.

• Question - What financial assistance is available for caregivers?

  Medicaid can pay for in-home care and might even pay a home-bound senior directly, who can then pay a familymember.

• Question - How can you pay for care when your assets are too high for Medicaid?

  You can still qualify for Medicaid in many states if your assets are above the normal eligibillity limit but you have high medical bills.

• Question - What documents does Medicaid ask for from an applicant?

  Medicaid asks applicants about all income and assets of any type, as well as support from others and any transfers of property within five years.

• Question - Can my father's house be taken to pay for long term care?

  A house transferred out of an elder's name can't be taken by Medicaid but might disqualify the elder from Medicaid nursing home coverage.

• Question - My dad needs 24-hour care and is in a nursing home but has no assets and Medicare won't continue to pay. What do I do?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert and a Community Member

• Question - Is a home given away more than five years before still considered the parent's asset?

  Long-term care facilities can't attach assets given to adult children but Medicaid may consider such assets in deciding eligibility.

• Question - What is considered an "asset" in regards to setting up a trust account?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How should my father balance estate planning, tax planning, and Medicaid planning?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Does a living trust protect my mothers assets if she has to...

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - Does the Department of Veterans Affairs seek reimbursement for a veteran’s nursing home care?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Is a Medicaid annuity a scam?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Is there a limit on how far back a person can seek reimbursement for expenses they incurred while they were acting as Attorney-in-fact?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How does one go about hiding assets?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - From what money are final expenses paid first?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Does my mother have to sign a home lien for short-term nursing home care?

  Medicare or Medicaid can cover all or most of short-term nursing home costs, but a nursing home might want a home lien from a private-paying patient.

• Question - Do CDs in trust count in determining Medicaid eligibility?

  Medicaid counts a CD in trust as an asset if revocable trust, and counts for nursing home coverage if put in irrevocable trust in past 3 or 5 years.

• Question - My father is withdrawing money from his accounts but can't remember where he's spending the money. What can I do?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How can my grandparents protect their assets from the costs of paying for care?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - When property is held jointly and one party enters a nursing home, what is the financial responsibility of each party?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Who is responsible for paying for my mother's care?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Is there a way to use my mother's assets to compensate me as her caregiver?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - Is it wise to put an elderly parent's home in trust?

  Should I put my elderly parent's home in a trust? Putting a house in a trust is a good way to avoid probate, although it may not be necessary.

• Question - How can I reconcile the debt of my late father?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Can a person get paid for caring for their parents in their parents' home?

  A family caregiver can get paid to take of parents by the Cash and Counseling or similar state program for low income seniors.

• Question - What are the risks with reverse mortgages?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Does a living trust protect money from Medicaid consideration?

  Will putting money in a living trust protect my parent's money and help her get Medicaid? No, Medicaid considers money in a living trust an asset.

• Question - Does the VA/State have the right to take over my parent's assets?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Can my mother help pay for her grandchildren's education and still qualify for Medicaid?

  Will a parent risk Medicaid benefits by helping with grandchildren's education? It's essential to consider whether Medicaid will be lost this way.

• Question - Any suggestions for talking to my father, who has Alzheimer's, about his finances?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Will Medicaid or Medicare help pay for my mother's long-term care?

  Will Medicaid or Medicare help pay for my mother's long term care? Medicare will cover 100 days in a nursing home if certain qualifications are met.

• Question - How soon after my parent's death do I need to begin administering her will, and what's involved?

  How soon after my parent's death do I need to administer their estate and other financial affairs? What other legal matters should I be aware of?

• Question - What is my first step in administering my mother's will?

  The first step is usually the hardest: Finding and organizing the property your mothe owned at her death.

• Question - What do I need to know before I sign a nursing home contract?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How do I handle finances when I share POA with my sister and both parents have dementia?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - What's the difference between a guardianship and a conservatorship?

  What's the difference between a guardianship and a conservatorship? I want to know because my elderly parent refuses to sign a power of attorney.

• Question - Since my parents own property in several states, how will their estate be administered?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Can SSI/Medicare/Medical/Hud Section 8 look for repayments of benefits paid to date, when I am no longer eligible for benefits going forward?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Can a Wisconsin resident disinherit a spouse?

  If a will does not mention a surviving spouse, the law will likely look at the document carefully -- and make some assumptions giving the survivor a share.

• Question - Are living trusts and living wills the same?

  When it comes to living wills and living trusts, only the names are similar. One concerns itself with controlling medical care; the other, passing title to property.

• Question - How should my mother decide when to file for Social Security?

  Is it best to file for Social Security benefits early, at age 62, if a parent needs money or wait until 65 or 67 to file for Social Security benefits?

• Question - How do I pick an attorney and what should I expect to pay?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - Am I responsible for my father's debt after his death?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How do we preserve my deceased father's estate when my mother remarries?

  To find out whether you are slated to get family property when your mother remarries, you have to look at the underlying estate plan.

• Question - Am I responsible for my parent's debt?

  Am I responsible for my parent's debt? I recently discovered that my father has several thousand of dollars of debt. Are parent debts transferable?

• Question - Where can I get free legal help with estate planning?

  It’s hard to find good free legal help, but there are some low-cost alternatives.

• Question - Is there any inexpensive insurance for the disabled?

  Medicare Part A and Part B, Medicaid, and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage may all be available to someone on permanent disability.

• Question - Will my husband's aunt's jointly owned CDs in a credit union automatically be transferred to her trust or us upon her death?

  This question has been answered by a Community Member

• Question - Does Medicare cover children?

  Medicare does not cover medical care for children, but Medicaid and related programs do cover care for children in low-income families.

• Question - What's the emergency procedure for obtaining durable power of attorney for finance or health care?

  What's the emergency procedure for obtaining durable power of attorney for finance or health care? Get answers on obtaining durable power of attorney.

• Question - Do my parents need to get divorced to qualify for Medicaid?

  Should my parents get a divorce so that Dad can get Medicaid? It's possible that they won't need a divorce for him to qualify for Medicaid.

• Question - How do you get financial help if you are between 55 and 60 years old?

  A few government financial benefits are available to someone under age 60.

• Question - If a couple is separated but own a house jointly, does one filing bankruptcy affect the other's financial affairs?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How do I get my dad to stop taking questionable financial advice from his friends?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - How can I be sure my nephew, who has POA for my sister and her husband's finances and health care, is properly using their assets?

  Unanswered. Can you help?

• Question - How do we deal with the expenses associated with the cost of burying my mother when her life insurance policy doesn't cover everything?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert

• Question - If I move my mother in with me will it affect her Medicare/Medicaid status?

  This question has been answered by a Caring.com Expert