Hi everyone,
I don't want to go into a huge long story because I'm sure I'll run out of room, lol! But this is my first post. My mom has been in assisted living the last 4 years. My brother is her guardian and was her conservator, as I lived out of state and just moved back last year.
He ran through her money and then decided to not go to court to show the inventory for the last 1 1/2 years, so as of June, he was essentially fired for lack of better words, by the court. There isn't really proof of "stealing" per say, just wasn't responsible with her money, kept her house and was paying $25K-$30K per year on the mortgage and maintaining the property etc, even though no one lived there. So I don't think there is anything illegal there, just DUMB UGH!
So here is where it gets iffy --- my mom had 529s for her 6 grandkids. As of a few months ago, my mom was approved for a Medicaid waiver here in Michigan (which from my understanding is essentially my mom pays for her room and board and Medicaid pays for her care, at her assisted living) When we got the court appointed conservator last month, I've been speaking with her and it looks like my brother may have intentionally or unintentionally left the 529s off of the medicaid app. (she's working on getting copies of all of this) During this, my brother changed ownership on the 529 from my mom to him and he told me to do the same, change ownership from my mom to me.
Well I found out from the conservator that these are my mom's assets, as far as Medicaid is concerned and now she may be facing a Medicaid penalty / period of ineligibility.
WHAT CAN BE DONE ??
Can my brother just transfer the money back, if he is willing? If not can he be "forced" to? He didn't illegally transfer, it was legal. It just happens to be my mom's asset and she has Medicaid. Are there any legal repercussions to getting this money back or is my mom SOL? (for what it's worth, I plan to have my mom live with me if I have to if she gets kicked out. UGH)
I talked to an elder attorney but she skimmed over this topic and since I didn't pay / retain her I don't feel comfortable asking more questions and wasting her time for now.
Can ANYONE shed any light on this??? Thank you so much!
My mom has been getting medicaid for a couple of months, as far as I know, my brother transferred AFTER the medicaid waiver so I think change of ownership on all the 529s was after.
I just don't want to get in trouble for something! I would never intentionally screw my mom over and just want to make sure I do right by her.