Can mom sell me her property before going into nursing home to keep state from getting it?

It really irks me when questions like this come up. Why do you think that taxpayers should pay for the care of your mother? We have our own parents to care for. I think you already know the answer to this but you were just throwing it out there to see if anyone would sympathize with you.

Mom’s assets are for her care, end of discussion.

It sounds like you want the taxpayer to pay for her care so you can get a free house.

Not going to happen.

I paid almost 1 million for my mother’s care. My dad worked hard his whole life, she saved the money and it was hers, and I spent it FOR HER.

If the house is in her name, the work of angling to keep it from providing for her welfare just doesn’t seem worth it to me.

I’ve never regretted my decision for one minute.

Mom can sell her home, yes, but the sale will result in assets and those assets will mean that mom won't get Medicaid.

She can't sell that home for below market value (say to friends/family) or it will be considered "gifting" and it will disqualify her for medicaid. And any sale to any family member will be looked at very very carefully, meaning that they will want to see that the assets from the sale are in Mom's name, and that market value was paid for the home.

Best thing Mom can do, if her home is her only asset, is to keep it, and apply for medicaid. They will do recovery when mom passes, which is as it should be. These governmental programs are to help the indigent, not to protect assets to be inherited by the children. Whatever your assets are they stand to provide for you in age.

Asset protection does have some tricks to apply and if mom and family are interested in hearing about them and the options and limitations legally involved it's time to see an elder law attorney. Best out to you.

A nursing home costs money. Your mother has property. She sells the property to pay for her care. It’s called paying your own way.

Answers here should be taken with a grain of salt. What you need is a certified eldercare attorney who can be pricey.

If the answer for this question was simple, everyone would have done it. Medicaid rules are very confusing and complicated. It’s not a DIY plan.

Mom can sell you (or anyone) her home at fair market value and then use those funds to pay her Nursing Home fees.

She can sell her property, like said, at Market Value. Then, as said, the proceeds go towards her care. No gifting allowed.

Medicaid allows the home she lived in to be exempt. They require that all other property be sold and the proceeds used to pay for her care before applying for Medicaid. So if the property ur talking about is not where she lives, it will have to be sold for her care.

The problem with not selling the home is someone has to pay the taxes, utilities and upkeep because Moms SS and any pension will need to be used towards her care once she is on Medicaid. Even though the house is exempt Medicaid has a lot to say who can live in it. Medicaid will put a lien on the house only when Mom passes if house has not been sold at that time. Medicaid has no idea what is owed till then. To satisfy the lien, the house will probably need to be sold.

Medicaid has a 5 yr look back in most States. Within that time there should be no gift giving or selling a home/property under Market Value. Within the 5yr look back, there is no protecting of property or assets. Mom pays until her assets are diminished and then applies for Medicaid.

First rules of real estate are location, location & location.
I’m going to approach this from entirely different angle, based - I’m guessing- on house being vacant? is in MS? & N of Bogue Chitto? This is a really isolated area of the State as most Choctaw land. Folks aren’t moving in, buying, doing flips or renovations. It’s not Laurel. It’s not Oxford, the Pass, Starkvegas, Bay St Louis. It’s not even Quitman…

It’s kinda like the Delta in the other part MS… very much lower tax assessor property in an area that has no real development or economy in the poorest State. Value overall is low. If this sounds what it’s like, it could be to your benefit. Anyways all this poses problems for State Medicaid estate recovery to be done as a lot of homes there’s little interest for anyone to buy them at all. It’s properties that need work and cannot qualify for a mortgage. Not easily sellable. It can take the State 2-4 years to go thru legal to get paperwork done to seize a property if heirs / family have no incentive to deal with the place.

So it's my understanding to deal with this issue is that MS has a 75K tax assessor value benchmark for attempted estate recovery aka MERP. Under 75k no recovery attempted. MS NPR “In Legal Terms” did a couple of shows on this over the years. You can Google some of their podcasts. You could contact the attorneys on the shows to get solid info on this. It seems what this translates to is that should the elder hang onto their ownership of the property- even though they are on LTC Medicaid in a NH with this Medicaid program paying for it - the State will do a hard pass on recovery after death if the property is under 75K assessor value. As these are properties that can’t really sell or sell for very much after the elder dies AND the costs and time to go thru recovery, Notices, legal filings etc not worth it. It’s negative benefits to the costs involved.

So what I’m going to suggest that you might want to think about if this is what the place is like, is having elder continue to keep their ownership and it’s allowed as their homestead is an exempt asset for LTC Medicaid during their lifetime. You let it sit there vacant and do only whatever to keep it secure. Then after they die, you get a probate attorney to enter their will to probate court that reads you are to inherit the property and if the State doesn’t do anything, after a period of time it transfers to you. HOWEVER and imo is important, you or someone in the family should pay property taxes this entire time otherwise it will go onto the required by State government annual tax sale for tax delinquency.

I don’t know if your MS county uses GovEase to do their tax sale but if they do there always is someone somewhere in the US who thinks they can be a Real Estate investor via tax deed and will go online and bid on parcel sight unseen with no idea what the area is like. & They do not do it the required # of sequential years to be able to file for redemption, so it ends up being a waste of time and $. It goes back into the county delinquency tax rolls again, so it’s Rinse & Repeat. GovEase does delinquent tax auctions on a national scale, online & do most counties in MS. Your paying the property taxes imo just keeps stuff simpler with no new non-family involved.

I know this approach irks others as it might could be sold FMV then elder spends down till impoverished to be LTC Medicaid eligible. But sometimes a property can’t do that….. may have decades of delayed maintenance so can’t qualify for VA or FHA….. cannot get approved for conventional loan.. may not be up to code… or too rural for buyers. It’s supposed FMV not realistic if no buyers at all interested. The 75K benchmark helps get rid of a whole slew of homes that would be problematic.

This is a complicated situation and you will need to hire an attorney who is well versed in Medicaid to structure it. She can sell you the house at fair market value (anything less will be considered gifting) but then the money from the sale is an asset that Medicaid can take. There are ways to put assets into a irrevocable trust (then the trust owns the assets and not the individual) but only a competent person can sign the documents, so if your mother has any form of dementia it is too late for that. Also, it is also probably too late for that with the five year look back.

Hire an elder care attorney and see what your legal options are. It is money well spent.