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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,513
Registered: ‎10-27-2010

Re: Elder care costs and a giant headache


@CelticCrafter wrote:

@libbyannE wrote:

 It's sad that someone in that family tried to cheat the system and now the elderly who need the care are paying for it. What the family tried to do was not ethical and the laws are written as they are for a reason so that people don't give away their assets and then try to claim help which all of the rest of us pay for.  This is not the government's fault and I have to say I don't feel sorry for the family. If the children already received assets from those elderly people, then they should use those assets to care for them at this time. Fair is fair. 


It was the elders that did it if I read the original post correctly.  

They are in a situation now that they created when they made the decision to give the assets away..


@CelticCrafter

Thanks so much for correcting my error. You're right! 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,373
Registered: ‎04-04-2015

Re: Elder care costs and a giant headache


@KathyPet wrote:

@SahmIam wrote:

Ok. I'm trying to understand this so PLEASE, don't yell at me.

 

*The parents wanted to give their children an inheritance instead of using the land and home via a sale to pay for their longterm care, correct?

 

*In order to give them the inheritance, they gifted them the land/money/house, correct?

 

*Was this wrong because they did it OR is it wrong because they did it shortly before filing for medicare?

 

*If they had gifted their assets over a twenty year period, would that have been ok?

 

 

I'm trying to figure out why people are upset that a family wants to keep what may have been in the family for generations.. IN the family. I know many who have assets they want to pass on to their children, grandchildren; are you all saying that's wrong? That there should be nothing left to anyone in order to pay for nursing care? 

 

I've watched many friends of my parents/in-laws go into nursing homes; the cost of $10,000 plus a MONTH for some of them. Assets were sold but....the money was gone very quickly and they were moved to facilities that were...not very good. Heartbreaking to see. What stood out for me was the fact that the children (my age) were/are trying to save for retirement, are paying a mortgage, paying for kids to go to college, health care, etc and to pay for private care for mom/dad/mom & dad was just not financially possible. We've made it so difficult for people to afford to live a long life. 

 

This issue is one I'm watching closely because it's even worse (it seems) if you have a disabled child and want to set up funds for their care after you're gone. The obstacles we've run into have been outrageous and shocking. 

 

And VERY illogical. 

 

This is very interesting thread and I'm glad the OP started it.


 

 

 

 

THere was nothing inherently legally or morally wrong with  the,parents transferring title to the property to their children UNLESS they took the action with the intent to,defraud the government by stripping themselves of assets and then claiming poverty in order to get Medicaid benefits.  If that was their intent and according to the OP it was, then they could be charged with intent to defraud the government.

Now if they had transferred the property more than 5 years before applying for Medicaid benefits then they would have been home free as they were outside the 5 year "look back" period that the government uses to determine the intent of the transfer.


The parents don't even have to be charged with fraud to suffer the consequences of their actions.  And intent doesn't really matter.

 

They simply won't be allowed to use Medicaid - and if the kids don't step up, they will be left to their own devices to figure out how to care for themselves.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,373
Registered: ‎04-04-2015

Re: Elder care costs and a giant headache

I can see how people can be upset by situations like this and think that the government has some obligation to step in and help the now destitute parents - even when it was the parents' own actions that put them in this situation.

 

We seem, more and more, to think that people must be rescued from their bad decisions - and that government is the vehicle to do it.

 

When children are involved, for example, it doesn't seem to matter how irresponsible their parents are concerning money - we think that government must step in and provide when the parents don't.  And generally, we don't punish the parents.

 

With elderly parents who need nursing home care, I can see the same logic applying.