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Can medicare take the house when he dies? This is my home!

I’m assuming this Trust is something that has been done very recently…. So What has happened to have you become concerned about “can Medicare take the house after he dies”?

If Dad is private pay for his NH stay, and has plenty of $$$ to remain private pay for years, his doing a Living Trust is good Estate planning. His Medicare is something he gets as a benefit of paying into FICA in his past and it is health insurance (which does not pay custodial costs). Medicare does not care what he does with his assets.

But if he is in the NH as a full time resident (not there as a rehab patient covered under health insurance) with your States LTC Medicaid program filed for &/or paying his custodial care costs, they do care what he has done with his assets the past 5 years.

So when was the “Living Trust” done?
If he enter the NH and has filed for LTC Medicaid, then he has gone and changed the title of his home to become - via a Living Trust - yours by naming you as the Trust beneficiary, that imho would be a problem. His placing you as the beneficiary of a Living Trust is a gifting action. LTC Medicaid places penalties on eligibility due to gifting.

If y’all did this without checking with his caseworker first as you felt it was ok as were his caregiver 2 years prior, you really have to find out precisely how your States LTC Medicaid program deals with exemptions and exclusions to the required attempt of Estate Recovery. It usually is an after death action.
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Reply to igloo572
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Your question doesn’t quite make internal sense, so you’ve gotten two answers, each of which assumes something slightly different. I’m not a lawyer but here are some things to think about when you do talk to one:

You asked about whether Medicare would take the house. But MediCARE will never take anything, as Geaton also says. Medicare is an insurance plan and isn’t income-based. So Geaton assumed you really meant Medicaid, and that he was on it now, and that the house was protected temporarily as often happens with a primary residence. In that case Medicaid may have a claim against the value of the house after he dies through the Medicaid estate recovery plan (MERP). * And for this you 100% need a lawyer.* Not just because of the living trust, where your dad gave away some of the value of the house to you and it’s not clear how MERP will deal with that, but also…. this is different for each state, and there are various reasons why there might be exceptions to estate recovery at all.

For example, in Massachusetts, one of them is “the heir provided care to the member for two years before the member was placed permanently in long-term care or other medical facility “. And it sounds like you may have done this.

So it’s lawyer time.

Now, Joann gave you a slightly different answer based on a different assumption. Joann took your question at face value and assumed you were on Medicare now, but that Since you were talking about some organization taking something thatMedicaid may be in the future/ and that he’ll be applying for Medicaid. In this case there would be a look back re eligibility and I’d expect it would be a problem that your dad gave away some of his asset to you within the last five years.

As I recall, there is a complicated way of figuring out the fair value of a living trust based on everyone’s ages etc. etc. that’s come up in another thread. But this may not be relevant.
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Reply to Rumbletown
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It depends when he placed you on the deed. If within the 5 yr look back, it maybe questioned. There will be a recovery. You will get a form asking you if there are any assets and the house is now an asset. I think the form asks if someone lives in the house. Did you care for Dad while living there for 2 yrs or more? If so there is a Caregiver allowance you maybe able to get. Disabled child allowance. Maybe just being a resident for years? If they except that you are part owner I doubt if they will force a sale. But if you sell the home, the lien will need to be satisfied. I would not see a lawyer yet. I would wait to see what happens in recovery, it may go smoothly. Only getva lawyer when you need to.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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You mean Medicaid. Medicare is health insurance. Medicaid is medical assistance for those in financial need.

Medicaid will put a lien on a home in order to recover the cost for caring for your Dad. IDK how it will work out but please consult an elder law attorney, Medicaid Planner for your state, or contact Medicaid directly. I'm sure your state has a website that addresses MERP (Medicaid Estate Recovery Plan).
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Reply to Geaton777
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