| Joint accounts and Medicaid….read on:
READER QUESTION:
My sister and I (ages 77 and 74 respectively) have joint savings and checking accounts and I also have my own separate accounts. My question is…if my sister ends up in a nursing home, how will the joint accounts be looked at as far as paying for nursing home care?
MY RESPONSE:
In a non-spousal joint account situation, the entire account will be considered your sister’s money for Medicaid purposes, UNLESS you can prove that you contributed to the account and to what extent. It may be cleaner for you to have separate accounts or keep the amount in the joint accounts small, perhaps just enough to pay monthly bills.
In a spousal joint account situation, the account will be deemed to be 50/50.
The best advice for all of you out there depends on your personal situation. This is one of the things we discuss at a consultation. There is no one-size-fits-all. |
