Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan

Re: Nursing Home

If the bank account is available to both of you, yes it is your mother's asset for nursing home puropses. It is also your asset if you should be involved in the same situation.

Do not remove your mothers name from the account unless you consult with an ELder Law attorney. Depending on the value of the account your mother could be disqualified from receiving medicaid benefits for a period of time and possibly as long as 36 months, provided she went into a Nursing Home.

As an Elder Law attorney for over 14 years, I have discovered the public is absolutely CLUELESS and believes it is hopeless when the financial issues have to be dealt with. I have the knowledge to go from room to room in every medicaid certified NH and save a majority of everyones assets, even if they are the nursing home.

From WDIV INTERVIEW.

QUESTION 1. If there is one message that you could tell the public today, what would that be?

ANSWER. It is that I'm amazed that no one has ever informed the public that they do not have to lose all of their assets if they or a loved one is in a nursing home or entry into a nursing home is eminent. I'm amazed that no one has any idea that you can seek governmental benefits and still preserve their assets for themselves, their spouse's and their children. That there is a terrible gap between what is the law and what people believe the law to be. Misunderstanding runs rampant in this area. Most people do not take the time to consult a specialist in this area, they listen to their friends that all hope is lost. People can pay for their care by planning. They can either be rich and spend their money; be poor and go on Medicaid; be insured and look at long-term care / stay at home insurance; or plan and put their house in order. While this area of the law is not glamourous and highly publicized and therefore a lot of attorneys do not practice in this area, it is a very important area of the law because with appropriate planning we can save hundreds of thousands of dollars for our clients. People work a lifetime to accumulate assets and when a husband and a wife have to confront a nursing home, they are looking at $50,000.00 a year for the care of one spouse and the cost of living for the other spouse which in effect will cost about a quarter of a million dollars in three years. It all boils down to people working with an expert such as myself and receiving quality information to make an intelligent choice as opposed to taking their chances. And of course when you leave things to chance and circumstance it just breeds disaster. Call me 248-641-7070. check out www.myelderlaw.com for my credentials.

Good luck, but get a good elder law atty.