It won't be long before my mom and dad go to a nursing home. They are very poor but own a small home. I heard that ownership should be changed to avoid being taken by a nursing home. In my dad's will, he wants the house sold and split between his 4 children. Please advise. (He also has a motor home)
Transferring the title to someone else will be considered by Medicaid to be a "gift," and there will be penalties in terms of when Medicaid coverage can start. Medicaid "looks back" over financial transactions for the last 5 years.
You parents may keep the house and be eligible for Medicaid, but they will not have funds to pay the insurance, taxes, and upkeep.
When both parents die, the state can recover their costs of NH from the proceeds of the house sale. If someone has been paying the taxes, etc. and has kept records of those expenses, that person will be reibursed their expenses. It is not likely that there would be much for the 4 children to divide after all this happens.
(Persons who enter a nursing home on Medicaid seldom have anything to leave to their heirs.)
Medicaid is a needs-based program. To be eligible you must have a need (such as a handicap or being elderly and unable to care for yourself or having dementia, etc.) and also fall below certain income and asset requirements. If you have more assets than are allowed, you are expected to use them up on your own needs first, and when that money runs out, apply for help. You cannot, for example, set aside all your assets for your children to inherit and then say, "I'm poor. Help me financially.
If anyone has any experience with this, please comment.