After 3 years of loving care of my parents in my home, my brothers, who live in another state and never contributed in any way to my parent's care, hired a rapacious trust litigation firm and sued me. The only trust Judge in the State ruled against me and appointed a Conservator who was also named Trustee of my parents trust (ironically, this was what they sued me for: being both caregiver and trustee).
The Conservator claims to have now spent all of my parents remaining money (although my accounting does not agree) and says my Mother must leave her current loving care home and move to a Medicaid accepting facility. They have not submitted an application to Medicare yet and don't even know if she will qualify.
My questions:
1) How do I find a placement that accepts a patient with no assets and who has not yet qualified for Medicare?
2) Can I insist that the Conservator sign all of the contracts? I am Mom's legal guardian, but want to be sure I am not held financially liable for anything.
Despite using Elder Care attorney's, obtaining a Revocable Living Trust and a care contract, I was still sued and my mother's funds were gravely depleted in the process. It's a very chummy atmosphere between the one Trust court, the litigators, and the Conservator Corporation. Really awful. I had to declare bankruptcy to avoid getting a huge judgement against me and want to be sure I am miles away from any further financial scams being perpetrated.
Thanks for any light you can shed on this topic- this Forum has helped me immeasurably along the caregiving journey.
I think you need to go to the State and have the Conservator produce an accting of Moms money. I will bet a big chunk was taken by them.
The thing is conservator was working in mom's best interest so can charge their hourly rate as well as the attorney representing the conservator. It gets very expensive quickly. Mom pays for all!
Been there, done that.
What facilities don't tell people is that they can have a patient's financial status set to "Medicaid pending". Medicaid* will retroactively pay a facility for a patient who's in the eligibility process.
(* Medicare rarely pays beyond 100 days of SKILLED nursing care meaning physical therapy, wound treatment, or some treatment requiring daily oversight by a RN. Patients who simply need assistance with daily activities are not covered, perhaps with the exception of dialysis patients [receiving on-site treatment].)
You may want to consider talking to someone at your State's Attorney General's office about the depletion of Mom's funds and the whole conservatorship thing.
I hope this financial stuff doesn't keep you from spending time with your Mom. She'll need your comforting presence more than ever now. You can encourage each other, share memories, laughs, and your belief system which can give comfort and hope.
May it be so for you both. Take care.