New Jersey Elder Legal Questions

You are going to need to show your brother had no income, and provide a written statement from your mo that she was supporting your brother, and a written statement from your brother acknowledging that those was supporting him.  If your brother is I disabled, then you need to report that to the Medicaid office that your mother was supporting a diisabled child.  Finally, if Medicaid does not accept that, you can apply for a hardship waiver of the penalty period that Medicaid will impose because of the transfers.  ... Read More

There are a couple of suggestions that I have.  If they are in some type of care facility you can.  Contact the Office of the Ombudsman in the State.  This office ism specifically designed to help people who are in facilities.  You can also try the Adult Protective Services in the county in which you live.  You can call the county prosecutor.  You can also apply to To court for for a guardianship over your father claiming that is not not being cared for and Is unable to provide his own care.  lucid luck. Call my office if you think I might be able to help  ... Read More

The husband’s social security and pension MAY continue to be available to her if the Board of Social Services’ analysis  indicates that those funds are needed to pay those household expenses.  I do not see any reason to believe that they would require the house to be sold, provided that it is their only home and its value is less than $802,000.  As far as being absolved from any liability for the husband’s ongoing care, there would have to be a divorce, etc.   Please call us if you need further assistance - 732.657.0600... Read More

Depending on what is needed, you could try the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys website. http://www.naela.org/ Attorneys listed there have experience with seniors, and disabled individuals, including those with mental illnesses.  You could also try the Brain Injury Association http://bianj.org/ .  Finally, you could call the bar associations for Burlington and Camden Counties.  http://burlcobar.org/   http://www.camdencountybar.org/  good luck.  If those resources don't produce any results, e-mail my office and I will see what I can do to assist you.  ... Read More

That's very difficult to answer based ont he information you have provided.  If the living trust is revocable, the trust provides no asset protection for you from creditors or from estate taxes, if any.  It will require that the IRA be used before you would qualify for Medicaid so it does not provide any asset protection for Medicaid purposes.   ... Read More

the answer to this depends on the state.  If someone from out of the state of New ejrsey sells a property in New Jersey, the state of New Jersey requires a tax to be paid.  Each state is different.  You may also be subject to federal capital gains tax on the sale proceeds.  You should probably consult with an accountant. ... Read More

Your grandmother would have to revoke the existing power of attorney. That's very easy, she simply needs to sign a document saying "I revoked the power of attorney".  You will need to find an attorney to go to the rehabilitation place and talk to your grandmother about signing a new power of attorney.  Based on your grandmother's age, many will be reluctant to have her sign new documents, and there will need to be some indication that she is competent, and can understand what needs to be done, and wants it to be done, not just that the family does not agree with what the person who has the POA is doing.... Read More

I would be happy to help you, however, that area is about 1 and 1/2 hours from my office.  You need to find a more local elder law attorney.  If you cannot find someone on Lawyers.com, try NAELA, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.  Sound like your mom needs to have a health care advocate in place for her here in New Jersey.  If you are the person designated in your mom's power of attorney and health care directive, you may be able to use the services of a geriatric care manager who will be able to visit with your mom, review her medical records, and provide a better care plan.  If you do not have these documents in place, then you will need an attorney. However, if your mom is hallucinating, she might not be able to sign those documents at this time.  If she cannot sign, you can explore the idea of a guardianship for her.  Good Luck.... Read More

If there are joint names on an account, the MEdicaid intake worker will typically want to see that both parties contributed to the account. how long the account was in joint names and the source of the money.  If the money is truly joint, and both parties contributed, then the money belongs to each. ... Read More

A facility will never take over all of his assets, however, his assets may be used, on a monthly basis to pay for the care that he is receiving.  If you have found a facility that is affordable to him on his monthly pension and social security, then you will have to devote those assets to his housing.  If he requires more care, you may have to use other assets, as needed to pay for that care.  however, as I said above, a facility will never just take over an asset. ... Read More

If you gift money to a child to "protect it" the money belongs to the child and if the child gets sued, the money is at risk, that's one of the many issues that the elderly need to balance in doing planning.  You can consider a trust or other arrangement to protect the money and allow the person to have some access to it.  ... Read More

This is a difficult question to answer without knowing more information.  If you transferred the house now, then the clock starts running on the five year look back period.  If you did the improvements to the house, and mom needs nursing home care within the look back period, you can always recoup the funds you put in to repair the house.  Does mom have other assets?  what you need to do is look at mom's entire financial picture, what assets she has, what you could transfer, and what you could use to pay for her care if she needs care within the five year look back period.   you mention splitting the house three ways - would that be between another sibling?  I could help you with this process, but doing this type of Medicaid planning is too complex to do in a question and answer forum like this.  If you would like to discuss it further, feel free to call my office.... Read More

You should contact the office of Adult Protective Services  (APS) in the county in which the person lives.  The APS is part of the Board of Social Services.  You can find it on line.  An intake worker will take information regarding the story and do an investigation. ... Read More

You need to contact the Adult Protective Services and the Ombudsman.  I would also check in the Surrogate's Court in the county where your Aunt lives.  If this attorney has this much authority over your aunt, her property, etc. that must have been given to her by the court.  There must be some paperwork filed somewhere that gives her the authority to do what she is doing.  If the house is going to be sold it has to be done via a guardianship or with a Power of Attorney that would have to be filed with the county registrar of deeds.  If you contact my office, and give me information about the location of the house, I will make some phone calls for you and find out if a guardian was appointed and how this attorney has the right to do what she is doing.     ... Read More

You will not ever be financially responsible for your mother. You may have to sell her home in order for her to qualify for Medicaid benefits.  She will need to have only $2000 in assets, and other financial requirements such as no life insurance that can be cashed in, no real property, and other things.  If she requires this level of care, she should be in a facility where the care can be provided, and she will have to seel the house to pay for that care.  While the house is on the market, she will be eligible for Medicaid benefits. ... Read More

A house can be placed into a special kind of trust called a "QPRT" - qualified personal residence trust.  There is a five year look back period, however.  Any asset that is transferred to a trust within five years of an application for Medicaid will not be protected, and will cause the applicant to be ineligible for Medicaid. There are ways of coordinating the creation of the trust and a potential application for Medicaid.  As for the bonds - I have never had that situation but I would think you cannot transfer them into a trust because they are owned by a person, and use that person's Social Security number.  If you change ownership by putting them in trust it would seem to be a redemption.  So you could cash the bonds in and then transfer the proceeds into a trust.  ... Read More

The person who assaulted your brother is obviously unwell, and is as much the victim here as your brother, so I'm not sure I would go with a police report.  The person who assaulted your brother is clearly receiving the right medications, is in the wrong environment, needs a new treatment plan, or some combination of many things.  The group home operator is at fault for allowing an unsafe environment to exist for your brother, and this may be actionable against the operator.  You should consider civil litigation against the group home operator, as well as administrative reporting to the Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly. ... Read More

If the gift was done in contemplation of becoming Medicaid eligible, then "yes" it will be considered as part of the Medicaid lookback.  I had a similar case in which mom and dad gave their daughter gifts of tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a few months so that she could pay for her wedding in California.  Shortly after the wedding the husband has a stroke and needed expensive long term care.  Medicaid considered the "gifts" to the daughter for wedding expenses to be transfers, but we were able to successfully fight that because of the wedding bills.  In your case, the $10,000 gift may result in one month of Medicaid ineligibility and you may be able to persuade Medicaid that it was not done in anticipation of your father going into the nursing home. ... Read More

There is no specific form.  If the trust is done as part of an estate, you can get a certificate of trusteeship from the surrogate's office.  Otherwise, just have the Trustee write something indicating that they accept the role.  I usually have the Trustee sign the SNT along with the grantor of the trust, but if that was not done, a simple letter will suffice. ... Read More

You need to consult with an attorney and consider the possibility of filing for a guardianship to protect mom and dad from possible financial abuse.  Your brother's actions in moving money around could jeopardize your parents ability to get Medicaid, if the need arises, and could limit their options for care.  I would also be concerned if your mom did not remember signing another POA.  A POA should be revoked in writing.  You should send your brother a letter, signed by mom, indicating that the POA he has is no longer valid, and asking for an accounting of everything he has done as the POA.  ... Read More