loosing family home to medicaid?

Yes they can.

Medicaid has a look back period that prevents you from hiding your assets.

Medicaid is welfare insurance. It's your neighbors paying for your mother in law's care. Why should your neighbors have to pay for your mother in law's nursing home just so you and your wife get a free house? They shouldn't.

You and your wife may be able to purchase the house at fair market value and continue to live there. But make sure it's at fair market value. Don't think buying it at a cut rate price will work. Then your mother in laws assets (the value of the house) pay for her care rather than your neighbors and you can continue to live there. If the house is worth more than you can afford, then your family will probably have to move.

The nursing home cannot force you to do anything.

Welfare is meant for those who have nothing, and if you give away your assets so you have nothing that is called fraud. Medicaid will look at what MIL has done in the past 5 years. To protect your home you will have to pay MIL the full market value of the home or Medicaid will place a lien on the home. The lien will be payable when MIL passes, not when you sell the house.

The only two ways to keep the home from Medicaid is if MIL's spouse still lives at the home (When spouse passes the lien will then be called) or if MIL's dependent child still lives at the home (When child becomes of age the lien will be called).

Yes, Medicaid can. Medicaid has a five year lookback period.

You can't "give away" your assets to family members and then go on welfare to have everyone ELSE pay for your care.

Sell the house, and give mom the money to pay for her OWN nursing home care. That's the POINT of having assets - to pay your way when you need it - not to give to your kids, who won't take care of you but want the rest of the taxpayers in the state to foot the bill.

The nursing home can't force the sale of the house, or put a lien against the house. It's the STATE that does that, if mom asks the state to pay her bills.

What your wife and her mother have done here, is called "Medicaid fraud", if your mother in law is on Medicaid, or applies for it in the next three years.

Medicaid has the ability to look back 5 years to see if assets have been moved around to make someone qualified for medicaid nursing home. So they can make your wife give this back to your mom which would make her not eligible, so she will have to sell her house. Once she does that and uses up her cash to the exemption level which is around 77k then she will qualify for the medicaid. Be very careful to not do anything that could get your mother in law in trouble for medicare fraud.

Before your mother in law is being placed in a Nursing Home you should talk to her worker and find out what will happen. It's really important for you to have the answer to your question before you make any kind of decisions. The worker should of asked you if your grandmother has given any property away before needing services. If your mother in law gave the home to your wife before needing services and she still qualifies for nursing home then you might be able to keep the house entirely. You can also contact your states estate management office and ask them.

Nursing homes don't "force" people to sell their family homes and Medicaid does not take homes of people. Nursing home care in the U.S. is not free right for all Americans,and someone has to pay for it. For those who do not have assets, and are considered "poor" they do qualify for Medicaid to pay for their nursing home care. Your mother in law signed over the family home two years ago, thus if she wants to apply for Medicaid there will be some type of penality. I would recommend you contact an elder law attorney who can assist you with estate planning at this point. It may, for example, be more beneficial to wait to apply for Medicaid and pay private pay. Or perhaps it may be more beneficial to apply now, then take whatever penalities. Only you know your financial situation is, which is why consulting with a good elder law attorney can help you.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6891928_missouri_s-medica...

Directories for Elder Law Attornies

http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practicestate/El...

http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a2cfindattorney.ht...

As others have already said it's not the nursing home - it's Medicaid that does the 5 year look back to catch those trying to game the system.

If the home is not in your mother in law's name, they cannot place a lien on it but they will try to recover from her estate if there is anything else when she passes. Medicaid has to get reimbursed for all the money they spent on her nursing care.

CAR253: Medicaid does have a lookback for assets, 3 or 5 years but a home is excluded from those assets to qualify for Medicaid.

They will force you to sell the home.

Why did your mother in law transfer ownership of the home, to avoid it being taken by Medicaid? I am not trying to be mean, but that is the reality of the situation here.

If you are living away from home, she cannot have you on her food stamps or her medicaid. You must be a part of her household. Also, if you are a college student, you cannot apply for food stamps unless you are also working 20 hours a week. It is not as easy as you just getting off hers and getting your own. If you are disabled, there may be different rules.