My mother’s house was deeded over to me and my brother in 2005. She continued living there until 2 years ago.
She went into a nursing home 2 years ago, is getting Medicare and Medicaid, and her pension and social security are going to the nursing home (except for $50 a month into an account for personal needs)
I just got a letter from Medicaid asking if the house she lived in is being rented out. Why would they want to know that? It’s not her house, it was deeded over to me and my brother in 2005. I am pretty sure it was well within the lookback period.
The house is being rented out, it has been rented out for about 6 months. But it is our house and should have nothing to do with Medicaid.
I’m going to try to speak to them today. What should I say, or not say?
Medicaid has limits on income. They want to know if the rents are part of her income. Has the deed to you been recorded? Also they may think it was a false transfer and that she is getting the rents.
They may be wondering whether your mother kept a life estate in the house (i.e., a partial ownership interest) when she deeded it to you.
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Disclaimer: I am not a Medicaid lawyer and I am not your lawyer. Do not rely on anything I say.
I assume you mean well before the lookback period, since she deeded it to you 10+ years ago.
That said, I think all you need to say is that you (and brother) have owned the house for 10+ years, and provided your mother with housing until she went into nursing care. Unless the rents are going to your mother, in which case THAT would presumably be part of her income for figuring Medicaid eligibility.
That’s a valid question. This site suggests that it shouldn’t cause any problems anyway, as the transfer was 10 years ago and the mother lived in the house for over a year.
If I understand correctly (and having not done a lot of reading on the topic, I may be misremembering), when you’re in a Medicaid nursing home they basically take all your income to cover the cost, minus a small amount for personal expenses.