Meeting with Attorney

[poseypatch]

Yesterday I met with an attorney regarding my 85 year old mother who just went into assisted living after stroke which caused her dementia to worsen. 

The first thing the attorney mentioned was getting mom eligible for medicaid which caused me to be taken aback.  I told her I didn't know that she could be eligible for Medicaid.... she doesn't haev a boat-load of money but certainly quite a bit more than $1,500.  In any event, she went on to explain how a portion of her money/assets could be put into an irrevocable trust and another portion into two different types of annuities.  I am really not as concerned about preserving her assets as I am about her having enough money to pay for the ALF for the remainder of her years.

The attorney also told me that in order to be eligible for Aid & Attendance benefit that she could only have $20,000 in assets... I asked her about the $80,000 threshhold and she said it was subjective & based on her remaining life expectancy.

My questions are as follows.... does the $20,000 sound practical for an 85 year old woman, they must not think she has too much of a lifespan left?  Also, wouldn't her A&A benefit be severely reduced if she is on Medicaid?

I was thinking that we could spend down her assets naturally & apply for the A&A benefit when they got close to the $80,000 limit.

Again, thanks for all the help I've reserved thusfar.

Mary

[VSR]

The attorney is misleading you so that you use her services.  You cannt transfer her assets away into trusts and annuities to reduce her net worth for VA purposes.  Now that being said, $80,000 is subjective, but what that means is that even if her assets are above that amount, she may still get approved.  You're more likely to get approved with over $80k in assets than to get denied with less than $80k.  Attorneys like this one are a big problem because they lie to VA and it causes the claims to take longer.  Veteran service organizations call these attorneys 'pension poachers' because they prey on unknowing vets and widows.

If you need more specifics, private message me.

P.S. sorry if I sound like I am venting, but it really bothers me when I see people getting poached like this.