scenario: my spouse may have to go into nursing home. she has assets but they are in both our names---what c?

Can you give any more information about where you stay. The law and the help available will vary from place to place. For example, in Scotland, personal care costs - the cost of feeding, washing, dressing etc are met by the state. The other "hotel costs" which are basically the bill for the accommodation, the food bill etc are not. In England, personal care costs are not met by the state. If money must be found to met the costs of her care, it is likely that you could be forced to sell your home to liquidate her share of the assets.

Get power of attorney, whether the spouse going into the home is competent or not, and as long as the nursing home bills aren't past due there won't be any problems at all. They can't legally take assets unless a court has given the nursing home the right to do so. Bill collectors can call at anytime the account is past due though. There's always divorce as well which can legally bind the nursing home from collection efforts against the spouse NOT in the nursing home if the spouse in the home incurred the debt after the divorce but debt incurred before divorce are both parties' responsibilities.

It depends on quite a lot. I wouldn't see too many senario's where just because a person enters into a nursing home that others outside of the immediate family would have access to claiming rights on property, assets, etc... As far as DECISIONS - now that is another thing entirely. My mother had to go into a hospice after her stroke and we had to scramble to get all of this done so that WE, her family, could have legal rights to decide certain things. I would suggest power of attorney's being made if this is a concern. For one thing, it basically goes into effect if you or your spouse can no longer legally make decisions about your health, etc... For example, if your spouse has an accident and is left in a coma - this would give you the right to make the medical decisions for the most part, NOT the hospital. It basically says that you have the right to make legal decisions regarding that spouse.

Another thing I would suggest for anyone out there - make a living will. What this document basically states is that if you are injured and the only means to keep you alive is through a machine, that you do not want to be kept alive solely by artificial means. Again, this keeps the hospitals from keeping you hooked up to a life support machine for the next 15 years and costing your family and estate thousands of dollars. It does not keep them from trying to save you - just from keeping you artificially alive with machines.

You can also place your property and other important holdings into a trust. This is more for protecting it from things like if you got a lawsuit, they (I believe) should not be able to touch your property. It also helps - if you have a large estate - in it passing on to the inheritors. Basically, it is owned by the trust and so it does not get "inherited" and this helps to avoid some of the inheritance taxes.

All of these you would want to check with an estate lawyer, or a lawyer who specializes in this stuff. My answers may not be exact, but I know the basics. I have all of these in place at the moment except for the trust - and I am redoing everything this year, including adding a trust.

I hope that this answered your question somewhat.

The best thing to do is consult a lawyer specialized in this kind of issue. In my own opinion, if you're legally married you have the right in her assets. If you love your spouse you shouldn't put him in the nursing home and hire a caregiver (I heard Filipinos are great caregivers than Mexican and other country coz of the drugging issue). In this way you can take care of your spouse and you know the status, but if it's the best thing to do, go for it. Hope this help!

If you will be applying for medicaid they will want to know all your assets.As far as your home you can keep it as long as you are living there.If you die and your wife is still in a nursing home under medicaid they can and will sell all your property to pay for her expenses.You certainly can't expect the govt to pay for her care while you keep assets.That isn't fair.You can't put them in your children's name now there is a long time period.Medicaid got wise when they saw that people were doing that.If you can avoid a nursing home please do .They are all bad places.What about hiring sitters for the home.Make an appointment with a case worker at your local social services office who handles nursing home placement and they will be able to tell you.

I believe as long as you can pay for the nursing home, they wont take anything. After that, I'm really not sure. Best of luck!