What will happen when my father in nursing home with Dementia/ Alzheimer's runs out of cash?

You need to find your own attorney who specializes in Elder Law to help you untangle the out of state real estate issues and help you file for Medicaid. You should do it now since you’re almost out of time and cash. Medicaid will take into account his other properties and you will probably have to sell them for spend-down for him to qualify. You could pay bills with that money. Pray that the properties sell quickly, even for less than their value. Do you have legal guardianship? Why do they want you out? Why does his attorney want you out? This is a financial mess and could wind up costing you lots of money. What will you do if Dad does have to leave the nursing home? If your brother wants to take over, I’d be tempted to let him. It might be a whole lot cheaper for you in the long run.

When my husband was in rehab, he was provided with incontinence supplies and it was paid for by Medicare and his supplemental. But here at home, they won’t pay for those. Only Medicaid will pay for home incontinence supplies.

Short answer--get another lawyer. Please get another lawyer. (You may be able to sue the current one, but that's for after you get this straightened out.) You are entitled to hire a lawyer of your choice using your dad's money to help you with legal questions regarding the guardianship. If dad has other property and a home, this should be sold to pay for his care and for taxes and everything else. Do not be paying for anything out of your pocket. (Yes pay the taxes, but save the receipt and reimburse yourself.) You have guardianship, so you should have control over all of his assets. Why are you keeping a home that he is never going to live in again. Please start communicating with a lawyer in the state where your father lives. With modern tech, you would not even have to travel to see the lawyer--do it over a computer. With guardianship you have the power to move your parent to your state--ask a lawyer. Please, please act fast before this spirals out of control. Your dad will only get Medicaid when all of his own funds are used up. I mean all, not just cash. You shouldn't be making a distinction between CASH and other assets. Sell the assets and you have cash- right?

Just another thought. I have said this before but it bears repeating. Keep excellent records. A paper trail of everything. Every receipt, every document, every email, photos etc. Protect yourself and show that you did nothing wrong.

I did not think Medicaid can count the home (I assume your dad owns it and paid for) as "assets" -- and they CANNOT acquire the house until everything goes into probate, which means the recipient has passed away (probate again, and using the Estate Recovery Law). so if your name is not included on the deed, the house will go under probate. Medicaid is dirty and crooked, because that is how our government operates. It is only good if you are truly poor so the government cannot get anything. The law allows states to place a lien on the estate for every penny paid out. But a lien does not mean they can seize the home until..probate. In my opinion you have a lousy attorney -- not only should you fire him but report him to the Bar Association of that State. You obviously sunk some money into that lawyer--all the more reason to file a complaint against him. You can also post reviews on websites such as the Better Business Bureau. No Medicare will NOT pay for incontinence supplies (I pay $100 a month for pull up diapers, gloves and ointments). If you can get your dad on Palliative Care or Hospice they can supply them. Here is an article on the Estate Recovery Law. If your father is truly unable to care for himself, I would hope social workers will help with placement; if not, in my opinion you have some malpractice going on. Little-known aspect of Medicaid causing fear wapo.st/1eHph9i?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.00c33e02bec1

Sell the property to pay for his care. That is what it should be used for. As soon as that money is spent you can apply for medicaid. Medicaid covers incontinence supplies, but medicare does not. I would pay a visit to the nursing home and take charge of his incontinence supplies as well as scripts because they charge way more if you go through the nursing home. We had to pay out over $25,000 until the medicaid was approved. Get started ASAP

Yes Kimberly I would definitely agree with the above Posts as it seems Your Dads Lawyer is dragging His heels and it is time to replace Him with a good Lawyer Who will work with You on Your Da's behalf. This is a very stressful time for You and the last thing You need now is to worry about finance since You live almost 2,000 miles away from Your Dads Nursing Home hence consider putting Your Fathers Home and property up for sale and certainly keep accounts.

Just curious. Why do the lawyer and BIL want you removed from guardianship? Are they encouraging you to sell the properties, but you haven’t tried? Do they think that being local to your Dad it would be easier to accomplish that? Maybe it would. Or do you suspect nefarious or greedy motives?

Medicaid allows your dad to own one home as long as the value of it isn't too high. That figure can vary from state to state. The other property must be sold to pay for his care. After he spends that money down, and he is applying for medicaid, he can state that he hopes to return to his home. That delays the sale of said home to after he dies.

You can buy incontinence supplies from walgreens or Walmart, etc. On line and put them on recurring status so they get mailed to your dad regularly. Do not give NH authority to buy unless they specifically ask you first.

Why aren't you moving to sell the property? You might want to hire another lawyer, seek a POA, and move to sell the property. Once you are POA, I don't see why you can't fire the current lawyer. Sounds like Medicaid won't kick in as long as he owns property. Do not pay for anything yourself unless you are being reimbursed or have it in writing to be reimbursed once the property is sold. If property taxes are owed, why isn't the attorney handling that. That should not be a guardian issue.

Before that happens find a find live in care giver ..some will.work for 150 day .as long as hes sleeping..should spend 5000 month too much money and some people are begging for a place to.live so find some one who will...be grate full to a a job .and let them take care of dad ..at a lower COST

Good luck. Medicaid allows one property, & max $2000 in checking. A low valued car too.

What caught my attention about your post was, youve been threatened .....if you are out of money, then let them remove you.
Considering all THE STRESS you're about to endure.
Someone needs to sell property as stated. In a hurry. Then apply.

In the meantime can they throw him out?
Yes!!! And they will. Its easier to be poor when aging, this i learned.
God bless you.
Ruff times ahead. And by all mean, have a supply store deliver pull ups/diapers.

Although (to the best of my understanding anyway) Medicaid doesn't force the sale of the PRIMARY home until after the person passes, there are some rules that override this. It appears they do not apply here (spouse is deceased, no disabled children living in the home?) However, you state that he owns other "properties". THOSE would need to be sold and all proceeds then used to pay for his care before Medicaid will be approved. Keeping GOOD records is important! Once all assets other than the primary home are gone, Medicaid should be approved. Also, HIS assets should be paying the attorney fees and taxes (and any other related expenses.)

Now, as others have said, upon his demise, Medicaid WILL require the home to be sold and for you to pay back of all monies provided for his care. This would come before any other debts or inheritance. Despite some implying Medicaid is crooked, this is how the system works. It IS intended for those who have no assets to provide for their care. OUR tax money pays for this, not the government - they just facilitate by taking tax money from ALL of us. To those who disagree, since her dad owns property, more than just his home, do you agree that YOUR tax dollars should support him, or should he (or guardian using his assets) be paying his own way (including the money from the sale of the primary home)?

As others have said, find a reputable Elder Care attorney, especially one versed in Medicaid rules. Taxes can be delinquent for a short amount of time - this can be settled during the closing of the sale (if you think it will take a long time to sell, get some legal advice - just not from that current lawyer.) There will be fees associated with it being paid late, and probably a lien placed on the property so that they get their tax monies before anyone else. I would discuss this with the tax collector(s). However this would alleviate you having to cover it, but ensure it doesn't get "taken", provided selling does not take years! Perhaps they can accept partial payment for the time being. It cannot hurt to ask!

As for the threats - do you have DPOA OR are you actually appointed guardian by the courts? If you have been appointed guardian by the courts, they would have to go to court and incur all kinds of expenses in order to ATTEMPT to have that changed. There is no other way for them to "take away" your guardianship. If they cannot prove that you are incompetent in your handling of his affairs, are negligent or taking advantage of his finances, they really have no leg to stand on. These are likely very empty threats, but you should not ignore them. You SHOULD find another attorney to handle anything that needs legal handling.

Any legal fees that you incur should be paid from dad's assets. Clearly you say he is pretty much out of liquid cash, so you NEED to get those properties sold. If possible, I would sell them all and then set up a trust for all the remaining monies after all other issues are paid up and use that for his NH. Ensure that BIL/wife have NO access to this trust. Once those assets are approaching depletion, THEN you can apply for Medicaid.

You might also be wise to hire a local (to you) Elder Care attorney. S/he might be able to facilitate issues with the attorney you choose who is in your father's state, and perhaps look into having dad moved to your state, if you would want to do that. Yes, more money is involved, but you need to protect yourself and your dad. Local attorney (to you) might be able to locate a better EC attorney in your dad's area. If money is an issue, perhaps they can also help by setting up an account, where you can pay a minimum until the properties are sold - they can also use the lien method, so they will be assured of getting their fees paid.

The best advice given is DO NOT WAIT!

I think Disgusted, too, answered your question in accurate detail.

Also, if you have guardianship, you should be in control, not the attorney or other relatives.

Find a competent elder care attorney, ASAP.

that was a question we asked for my mom, who was diagnosed in 2016. What they told us is that Medicaid will only kick in if there are literally no other assets. For him, i would consider whether his remaining assets (Ex: Home) can be sold so the proceeds can go to his continued care. Though no one told us outright that this has to happen (it sounds super cruel and mercenary) but we asked outright and understood. This is the example we got: ( my dad is still alive): if we had sold the house for 250,000, half of that would be split into use for her care, while he would retain the rest. In your case 100 of it would be his for his care. I’d speak to a lawyer that handles cases like yours so whatever happens financially, it doesn’t bankrupt you or him

Could other properties be refinanced. Maybe sell (cheap?) to meddling relatives, and they can deal with Claw Back if he doesn't live another 5 years.

Also call DHS & Medicare/Medicaid Ombudsman, not the attorney. See if you need Elder Care Attorney with Associate in state where LO lives.
Ombudsman should be a great help.
You didn't say what type of property it is. If family/LO still lives there, find out about a Life Lease. Ex: MIL had life lease ($1/yr + taxes & maintenance), after her spouse died. Ownership went to kids, but she can live there like she owns it until her death, or her choice!
Worth checking into!

Reverse mortgage

I think Kimberly has left the building.

Go to your local Medicaid office and get real information, don’t rely on what you hear on the street or word of mouth. Medicaid is intended for people who have no resources. If you dad owns property then it should be sold to pay for his care. When that money runs out then you can apply for Medicaid.

I went thru this last year with my parents. Medicaid allows the spouse who lives in the house to retain title to it as well as any pension and social security income due that person. In addition that spouse can retain $24,280 in cash for maintenance and expenses. If there is no resident spouse then the government expects the home to be sold to pay for the surviving spouse's care before Medicaid is used.

The person who is applying for Medicaid can have up to $2000 in cash assets. Additional funds can be spent on medicines, medical equipment, clothing, etc. It is expected that any other assists will be send to pay for care until the spend down limit is reached.

What so many people don’t realize is that the program was designed to cover people who don’t have money, not people who have assets that can be used to pay for their care.

You will have to sell his properties. He won’t be approved for Medicaid if he owns properties in addition to his home. If he has supplemental Medicare coverage, they should cover incontinence but regular Medicare does not.

Kimberly, you said you can’t sell the property because you can’t move to do it. You could hire a real estate agent (in coordination with your attorney) to sell it. Many of them have clean out services or work with estate sales to get it sale ready. I would see a Medicaid lawyer (in your state) who can help. You may need to take a trip to the house to get things going and sign papers, but I don’t see why you would have to move there to accomplish this.

Kimberly the answer to your question is simple. The Nursing Home will take all of their costs out of the sale of your Dads property. In the end the Nursing Home will be paid other wise they would be running at a loss and close down.