Thursday, October 2, 2008
If She Only Still Had Her Money
Yesterday I went to help a senior friend of mine who has been wearing herself out getting ready to have a garage sale because she hopes to soon move to an assisted living. She needs to get her condo sold first in order to afford it - oh I mean her son's condo that was bought with her money and she rents from him. Unfortunately she didn't have an advisor to instruct her how to properly protect her assets and she gave all her money to her two boys several years ago. She gave one $80,000 towards building a house that she could live in with them. Well that didn't work out because her daughter in law felt threatened so she ask her other son to move back here. She gave him $80,000 to buy the condo in his name and still paid him $600 per month in rent. To make ends meet she had to use her credit cards and now has debt too. Even after the condo is sold she's living off of a small pension and social security of $1600 per month. In order to be able to afford their smallest independent living unit she's having to utilize her Veteran's Aid and Attendance benefit. I'm not sure what she'll do when she requires some assistance. She really needs the one bedroom because she's a quilter and wants to take her sewing machine and table. She's giving all her beautiful furniture to her other daughter in law. The least they can do is give mom enough money to pay for the one bedroom. This is a good example of the importance of being educated and advised on the best way to preserve assets. Consult an elder law attorney who specializes in long term estate planning. Learn more about this at www.agingavenues.com.
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2 comments:
Unfortunately, if she is in an independent living community, the room and board is not a deductible medical expense for VA purposes and she will not get the full benefit.
The VA says the community must provide some medical or nursing services for the disable person in order to deduct the expense.
Depending on how long ago she gave her son the $80,000.00, if a time comes when she needs nursing home care, she can probably qualify for Medicaid. I would have to research the manner in which the payment to the assisted living facility is factored into the budgeting, but, if she has substantial medical bills while she is living in the assisted living facility, she might be eligible to receive Medicaid for her medical expenses there also.
How long ago did she give the money for the house arrangement? How long ago did she give her son the $80,000.00 for the condo? Is she interested in trying to recover any of the money?
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