by Anita Schnee, Attorney at Law
After Maria’s husband died, Maria’s daughter Debby persuaded her to sell the family home and move into Debby’s mother-in-law cottage. That way they could stay close, and Maria could invest the money from the sale in a nest-egg on which she could live comfortably. The house sold for a handsome sum, Maria moved in, and life was good.
Unfortunately, soon Maria had a serious stroke and she ended up needing nursing-home care. Maria hadn’t consulted a lawyer, so she had done no advance planning. The value of Maria’s estate far exceeded the limits to qualify for Medicaid assistance, and Maria ended up spending everything she owned on the nursing home.
If only she had consulted an elder-law attorney at least five years before. Counsel could have helped save her entire estate for Debby’s inheritance. Not only that. There are ways to structure the sale of the home so that Maria could have paid off Debby’s mortgage and still qualified for Medicaid! Even if Maria had delayed until she needed the nursing home, counsel still could have protected around one-half of her estate.
The law permits elders to save, to allocate their money, and to qualify for Medicaid. This knowledge is what you pay an elder-law attorney for.
The money Maria could have saved, for that educated guidance, could have been the best investment of all.
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Anita Schnee is an attorney licensed in Arkansas with the law firms of the Elder Law Practice of Cash and Whatley, and Mitch Cash Ltd. Rights to this article are shared only with attorneys who are members of the Eldercounsel organization. For an attorney in your state, please click here.
Source: Cash and Whatley
