Ask The Pros

Justin, My mother will be moving into a nursing home next week. She owns a house and a car, and she has about $25,000 in the bank. The people I’ve talked to say she just needs to spend her money down to $2,000, then she can go on Medicaid. Is that right?

Justin, My mother recently set up a trust, and she asked me to look over everything to see if I had any questions. Everything looks right to me—she even retitled her home and brokerage account into the name of the trust. She didn’t change her checking and savings accounts, but she said she planned to add me to those. Do you have any other suggestions?

Justin, My current wife and I are both in our second marriages. Each of us brought several children into this marriage. She has been pressuring me to schedule an appointment with an attorney because she read an article that scared her. She thinks that in a situation like ours, the children of one spouse could be completely left out of our estate depending on the order of death. Do we really have anything to worry about?

Justin, I read your comment that planning ahead for VA benefits is more crucial now than ever. Can you clarify why you say that and explain how I can plan ahead?

Justin, I read some of the things you recently published about changes to the rules for VA benefits. Can you provide a quick rundown of what happened?

Justin, My mom lives in a nursing home, and right now she’s on private pay. She has enough money to last the rest of this year and most of next, but when she runs out of funds we expect her to move to Medicaid. Her only other asset is her house, which she wants to leave to me. That should work, right?

Justin, My mother is in the hospital right now, and her doctors are talking about moving her to rehab in a nursing home soon. Even after rehab, we doubt she’ll ever be able to return home. Is there anything we should be doing right now? Are we too early . . . or late?

Justin, My mom and dad created a trust about twelve years ago. Almost everything they own is titled in the name of that trust. That should mean their assets are safe even if they need long-term care one day, right?

Justin, My mother will be moving from assisted living to a nursing home later this month. When I met with the business office at the nursing home, they told me she needed Medicaid coverage to afford the facility costs but her income is over the Medicaid limit. What can I do?

Justin, I want to add my daughter to my bank account so that she can write checks for me. When I visited a branch to do that, the banker I met with didn’t think it was a good idea, but I’m not sure why. Can you help clear this up for me?