Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers a reader question about how their mother can avoid losing her house to the nursing home.
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Transcript of Video: How Can My Mother Avoid Losing Her House to the Nursing Home?
Today's question is the following how to
avoid losing a house to the nursing home
so my mom's significant other won't
become homeless in Wisconsin mom's
health is starting to decline and may
need more assistance with care so this
is a very good question a very common
worry among many seniors in Wisconsin
first it depends on your situation if
your mom is married to the person in
question we call the spouse in this
situation the community spouse and we
would call your mother if she's the one
going into the nursing home the
institutionalized spouse now the
community spouse is allowed to stay in
the home while the institutionalized
spouse goes in the nursing home and
receives Medicaid benefits so if you're
talking about qualifying for Medicaid if
they're legally married one can remain
in the home and that won't prevent your
mother from qualifying for Medicaid
however after your mother's death the
state of Wisconsin may seek repayment
from the home that they I assume your
mom's husband was living in now if they
aren't married these rules won't apply
where he's considered the community
spouse then your mom would be treated as
a single individual and in general a
single individual is only allowed to
have their home and up to $2,000 in
liquid assets to qualify for Medicaid
now if your mom goes in the nursing home
after a while if she's determined unable
to return home then she's probably going
to have to sell the house so if you're
single the facts get tricky here so
consult with a qualified elder law
attorney in your area but if you're
single the house gets trickier if she's
married the community spouse can remain
in the house there are other methods for
protecting your assets
she's using an irrevocable trust but be
aware for that you need five year
look-back period meaning you'd need five
years until your mom would need to
qualify for Medicaid in order to do
any of that sort of planning so again I
suggest you consult with a qualified
estate planning and elder law attorney in
your area and give them all the specific
facts here so they can give you the best
advice in this situation when you
mention your mom's significant other it
sounds like they're not married so some
of these laws that apply to married couples
probably aren't going to protect them
and that's where a qualified attorney
can help look through the facts and see
if there's any other options in this
situation so I'm sorry to hear your
mom's going through this but great
question and thank you for asking!
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