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Adult children who share the support of a parent can determine who gets the dependency exemption.   It is called a Multiple Support Agreement.  Here is an example

Fred’s father, Charlie, lives with him and receives 27% of his support from Social Security, 40% from Fred, 24% from Charlie’s brother Ray, and 9% from one of Charlie’s friends. Charlie may be a qualifying relative for either Fred or Ray because they each provided more than 10% of Charlie’s support, and together contributed more than 50% toward his support. If they agree that Fred will claim Charlie as a dependent, Ray will sign Form 2120 and Fred will attach the form to his tax return.
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worriedinCali Dec 2019
Read the OPs profile. This isn’t a situation involving multiple support ;)
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As worried said, if your Mom receives Medicaid she probably doesn't make enough to need to file taxes. My Mom received 18k a year in SS. 2400 in pension. Since SS is not taxed if total income is less than 30k (I think thats the amt), my Mom didn't pay taxes. She received a letter from IRS.

If you have any out of pocket expenses, this should be brought up to the guardian. If Mom has any money, you should be getting it for her care. If you are having a problem with the guardian giving u what you need, then petition the court for an accounting.

Like said, you would have to prove you spent more than 50% on her care. So if she brings in $1000 a month, you have to be paying over $1000 out of pocket. With receiving Medicaid you should have no healthcare expenses.

So, at this point I would do nothing until u speak to the guardian. If the guardian does not file taxes then u maybe able to claim Mom. But that would be a question to ask CPA versed in tax law.
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Couple things. The guardian will not file your mom on the guardians taxes. Your mom doesn’t live with the guardian and the guardian isn’t providing more than half of her care. Your mom isn’t the guardians delendent. Claiming your mom has nothing to do with her insurance benefits. Medicare isn’t an entitlement program and it’s not based on financial eligibility. If your mom is also on Medicaid then she’s very low income and I’d venture to say she doesn’t file taxes herself because her income is either not taxable (if she’s only on social security) or she doesn’t have enough to make her required to file taxes). If she lives with YOU and you provide more than half of her financial support then you can claim her as a dependent as long as her income is below a certain amount. You can’t access her financial information because you aren’t legally authorized to do so. Your sister is guardian. If your sister is guardian, why is your mom living with you?
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Your profile states your sister has guardianship over her but she lives in her own home. Yet you do the daily care for her. She is probably on Medicaid, not Medicare (one or the other but not both). There is a lot of confusing info in your profile about the situation. A guardian of someone is not legally obligated to release any info to anyone else. No, do not file her as a dependent on your taxes, the guardian will do any of that. But, it sounds like you are concerned that there may be some fraud going on and you are maybe being used by your sister. If you really want to sort this out in your mom's best interest you can consult with an experience elder law attorney. One hr will cost approx $300-ish dollars. Then you may wind up in court fighting over her control with your sister. If the courts think your fighting with each other is making the matter worse, the court may award guardianship of her to the county, but she would still get the care she needs. What is your mom's wellbeing worth to you? What are you willing to do for it?
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worriedinCali Dec 2019
geaton she is probably on both Medicare and medicaid. There are tens of thousands of people who are dual-eligible for both.
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