Does the healthy spouse end up living in poverty because the other spouse needs to qualify for Medicaid by spending down all their assets? Can my mom keep 1/2 the assets? She only gets $650 a month social security and cannot live on that if their assets are spent.
Your mom is the "community spouse" and is entitled to keep assets to keep her afloat. But it's a complicated process, not DIY. It is a legitimate "spend down" to pay legal fees.
And Hugemom, if you are over the income limit, you have a lawyer draw up a Miller Trust.
So, a Miller Trust is also called a pooled income trust. You can Google it. I'm also told Gabriel Heiser's book is a useful tool.