My brother and I are going to start title 19 soon with elder atty for my 82 yr old Mom. I am POA, and we also have DPOA as of 2013. My Dad was deceased 2010 at VA.We sued for negliegence and won. We rec'vd approx. 45k. DPOA receives this amount every month. Atty ok'd me to continue handling my Mom's finances at bank as I handled finances for her since 2013. Mom lived in her home till Nov. 2015, then we put her in assisted living. We sold her home last August 2016. I have always had her cc's and I purchase all of her stuff. We hired a healthcare co. sept 2013 - nov 2015 as she has a life insurance policy she could draw off of which was $126k. I withdrew on average $175 - $200 in cash a mo. from bank and put it in envelope for her use. Like eating out, groceries, buying personal stuff. I rarely received receipts as there were a lot of caregivers at her house. 1 lady would save receipts. I am freaking out now. In 2009-2012 my aunt did her bills as mom cared for my Dad and visited him in VA. Then in 2010 Dad passed. My brother took over in my place as I just had surgeries and couldn't do her finances. My brother did bills till 2013 when an argument happened. He brought all files back to Mom's house, and then my other Aunt and I then took over. I am 54, perm. disabled, on SSD and also on MAPP program thru my state WI to get Medicaid RX help etc. This is where it gets complicated. My Mom has given me a $200 check 3 yrs ago. I do all her shopping and get her TP, Gatorade(pr DR), clothing, wedding gifts coming up, b-day gifts, QVC,HSN etc.. I know now that a 5 yr look back will happen. Atty has asked me for 6 mos bank statements. Heres the problem. I inadvertently went online to pay for my cc bill from chase and clicked on 1 of 2 accts to w/d from. Well it was Mom's acct, not mine, but didn't notice till I started pulling papers to take to Atty. I have been so stupid and kept using the acct every month which I believed 2 b mine for 5 months straight Feb-Jun totaling $2606. It really shocked me. I never opened my bank statements so far in 2017, or my Moms. My purchases all under $1k. I told my brother and he is mad. Can't believe my story. I told him I have the $2k now, and the rest next month to pay my bills. If SSD gets involved with my cc, I could b in a not so good position. I rec'vd $ from car accident in 2010, as well as backpay for SSD, as well as winning a lawsuit in 2011. I paid all my taxes and have been living off the amt since 2010. But now that it appeared on mom's bank statements I can't put the $2606 back in her acct now, as it will possibly make things worse. Mom and I have been very close even now as her Al gets worse. I buy her a few pairs of shoes, new glasses, diapers, clothes a lot of clothes. She has gained so much wgt in less than 2 yrs. So I have purchased a lot of stuff on QVC, HSN as they have big sizes for the last 2 yrs. I have to buy almost everything for her as assisted living doesn't pay for that stuff. My Mom has helped me with gas $ as I do most of my driving to p/u items fr her. She has helped me with car expenses like 4-5 yrs ago. Does Medicaid really look into everything or just purchases on bank statements that reach 1k? I want to pay mom for the huge error I made. Her rent is $6k a month. I did not do this to take her $$. It really was an honest mistake. I know what my bills r in my head, and I know when I need to add more. I use to be so efficient but I'm overwhelmed with keeping up on her stuff, and mine. Will I be penalized lets say if Atty says it was a gift ? And will I get in trouble with SSD then? I would of needed to claim it as a gift and I haven't. Please help me and answer the questions. I love my Mom very much. I haven't been able to sleep at all last night. Guess I could call the Atty and tell him what happened. I really did not mean to delay her Medicaid. I knew we had plans to file title 19 in August. I certainly did not intend on making the same mistakes but I did. Any help to my questions greatly appreciated. I have never asked for $$ from Mom for many years. Even when dad was at their home. What do I do?
You have a lot to do to sort it all out. Keep gathering the bank statements as you still need them.