Having POA, I am thinking about pooling my mothers assets with ours and purchasing a property to better take of her. Or, should the assets be kept separate? We can borrow the money to buy. She could pay us rent for her quarters. What would be the best way from a tax /estate standpoint?
You need an attorney for what you want to do....get it done legally or you could be in serious trouble. I agree with "Coach", and all the others in this thread.
Keep in mind the lookback for Medicaid eligibility is 5 years. If you think that will be needed for your mom, you should gear your decisions to have her at the Medicaid compliant asset level by 2017.
If you don't have the following done, then while your at the attorney's get:
- Durable Power of Attorney (a Financial Power of Attorney) not just POA
- Medical Power of Attorney
- Living Will &/or Advance Directives
- Declaration of Guardian in Event of Incapacity
- HIPAA Waiver
- Will or codicil to the Will if it needs to be updated
I'm a firm believer in having an elder care attorney take care of all this. It will not be expensive as most of this is done by the paralegals. You do want to go in prepared with what the information is for the documents (e.g. the residence located at 123 ABC street, aka parcel #5678; Ann Smith, wife of John Smith, with the info on all the births & prior marriages) as well as valid ID for the elder. If you have the stuff together, this is all simple, straightforward paperwork, it should take 1 - 2 hrs for the intake and then 1 hr a couple of days later for the signatures to be done.
If mom has assets, then all this should be paid from her assets. This also is important if you ever get challenged. If you pay for all, and you benefit, then other family could go to court to find it a coerced document. Good luck.
Are you thinking of purchasing this property to live in jointly? In the event that Mother might some day need more care and require a long term care facility, how would joint ownership of the house impact that? I hope a financial planning expert can tell us.
Also, does mother have assets beyond what would go into the house? Would she be able to pay her way for long-term care (or professional in-home care) should that become necessary? I think that might have a bearing on what is best to do now.
I'll be watching for expert answers, because I'd like to know this, too.