ULPT Saving assets

Posted by weheartyume@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 16 comments

My father has dementia. He's in his early stages. I have power of attorney and I'm planning for the sad future that keeps me up at night.

What can we do to protect (aka hide) his assets so that the healthcare system doesn't drain his accounts before he can qualify for medicaid? I recently learned about this and it sickens me to think that all of his (and my late mother's) hard earned money will get zapped away like that leaving basically nothing. They wanted any left to go to their kids and grand kids.

Buying a house is an option (we're currently renting). If we used the money to purchase a home for all of us to live in (dad, brother, my husband, myself and our 2 small children) would they be able to take the house since the down payment would come from his assets? I know they look back 5 years.

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mailcreeper50@reddit

Joint checking and savings.

My dad is going thru this with his sister. He has every deposit and every bill come out of their joint checking. Since she was fine opening the account (he told her she needed to cause then he could get groceries and stuff) then the money belongs to BOTH of them, not just her. He gets it all when she passes and cannot be touched by probate. My dad has spoken to a few different lawyers and they all say the same thing. Joint account gets you all of it, and funds or accounts under 'her' name only will be subject to the will and probate.

Hope this helps!

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kelly1mm@reddit

Why should the government/taxpayers pay for your father's care rather than that care being paid for from his assets?

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Abject-Yellow3793@reddit

Put all the assets into a family trust including him.

Then remove him.

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lambsoflettuce@reddit

Use his assets to take care of him.

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UnethicalLifeProTips-ModTeam@reddit

Your post or comment was removed for violating rule 1: Tips must be unethical, tips that are ethical will be removed.

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KeyTransportation609@reddit

This isn't unethical...

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bigfathairymarmot@reddit

The most unethical thing would probably kill him before he requires more care, and probably keep cashing social security, and piss disks

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ongoldenwaves@reddit

All the advice on here is correct. There is no way to hide anything now. You would have needed to put the assets into an irrevocable trust. If you move assets now, he won't qualify for medicaid. They look back at all assets moving for five years.

It's not about the health care system taking the money they don't deserve. This is what your dad's money is for. He may have had dreams of leaving it to his kids, but most people are woefully unprepared for old and how expensive it is. It is very very hard to take care of someone with alzheimer's. Be grateful your Dad has some assets to take care of it. You're probably going to be spending around 15k a month.

The day he runs through his money, he will be transferred to a medicaid facility and be thankful your Dad had the money to stay out of it as long as he did.

After he dies, Medicaid will come after the house. It's called medicaid estate recovery. Honestly, you're better off selling his house and using it for care in the private place. The problem with the medicaid homes is they are generally horrible and charge more than the expensive private care. They charge the state a shit ton and then the state comes after the home.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/16/health/medicaid-estate-recovery-seniors.html

If you do anything shady as his poa, it usually doesn't end well. Spend your Dad's money on him and don't worry about getting an inheritance.

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weheartyume@reddit (OP)

Wow. I literally just learned about all of this so forgive my ignorance but I didn't realize medicaid places were awful. I should have known. I actually don't even want him out of the home unless it's absolutely necessary because I'm afraid of what sort of treatment he could face. I feel so ignorant to all of this and it's incredibly sad to learn how elderly people are treated.

Thank you for the info.

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ongoldenwaves@reddit

No one knows.
You are going to want to get your dad treatment. Face that fact and plan accordingly. Go spend a couple hundred dollars and get the advice of a lawyer, but realize that no lawyer worthwhile will do anything like start a trust now.

Alzheimers patients fall a lot. Break hips. They start to wander around at night. They often have periods of violence. They get more UTI's. There will be more trips to the ER. If you've got kids, it will terrify them. You will be exhausted. You will no longer be able to hold a job. Unless you can somehow figure it for some member of your family to have 24/7 care in home, I don't know anyone who can navigate this and keep a job. Care in medicaid homes can vary, but yes, it's generally not great. I'm telling you now, doing this for 10 years is going to break you. Don't be naive.

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