| Can’t families just get along?…. read on:
READER QUESTION:
I have a question for a friend (my nail lady actually, like a hairdresser we talk about everything 😊).
So her Mom and Dad were in a nursing home but dad just passed on. They only had a house and in the Will they wanted the house to be left to both daughters and the house was put in a trust years ago. She doesn’t know what kind of trust. They both got Medicaid for the nursing home. In January of this year, the lawyer and the other sister took the house out of the trust, put it in the sister’s name, and told Dad that it was the only way to save the house.
Won’t there be a 5-year look-back on the house because Mom is still alive and receiving Medicaid and they will go after the house? Why in heaven’s name did they take it out of the trust after it had been in one for years is anyone’s guess.
Thanks for all you do to help people navigate a very tricky part of life so freely and willingly. You are a great person to do this!
MY RESPONSE:
OH BOY, I hate situations like these. Assuming the trust is a proper irrevocable Medicaid trust, then it MAY have a provision that allows the trustee to pay trust assets to one child, but usually with the consent of the MOM. Did Mom give her consent? Did the trust require her consent? Too many questions to really be helpful here.
However, transferring the house from the trust will probably not create a new five-year look-back, but may result in higher taxes upon the sale of the house. |
