My mother has an investment account of more than $300k. She is 79, in ok health and is moving in with one of her daughters in Massachusetts. We are looking into Mass Health as a provider and realize her assets will disqualify her.
We also understand that if we were to sign up for adult day services or a nursing home facility, they will tap into her assets first.
We would like to protect those assets and wanted to know our options.
I understand there is a 5 year look back, so this is something we need to consider now. Can we change the ownership of the account to one of her children or create some type of independent LLC? What is the process for each and what are the tax implications, if any?
She does have medicare. But I have heard horror stories from people who have said their life savings got sucked up by nursing home costs. I'm trying to be proactive and fair and find the best solution for her while protecting her finances.
ArmyRetired, thanks for the irrevocable trust suggestion. She is currently on People's Choice in Louisiana, so I wanted to find comparable coverage for her in Mass. I believe she does have Plan B, so I'm not sure why she would need Mass Health - you raise a very interesting point! This is all new to me, so I appreciate you pointing that out! Thank you!
See an attorney who specializes in elder law. Be careful about transferring assets into someone else's name. Very risky. First of all, it would trigger a gift tax. Next, the money would BELONG to that person. In case of divorce, it's marital property. In case of a lawsuit, it's fair game.
Seriously, it's one thing to try to protect assets legally from nursing home expenses. It's quite another, in my opinion, to do everything possible to spend NONE of mom's money on her own care. Lordy.