Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers a reader question about whether the reader will be responsible for the Father's medical and nursing home bills when the reader is listed as a co-owner on the Father's checking account.
Transcript of Video: Can I Be Held Responsible for My Father’s Nursing Home Bills?
Today's question has to do with
multiple issues involving estate planning
and I believe also touching on Medicaid planning
bear with me while I read the question in full
because it has many parts
can I be held responsible for my father's medical bills and
nursing home bills in the state of Wisconsin that's
the big question
then the reader writes my father recently entered
a nursing home
I have power of attorney so he is saying he's
saying he's the agent under the power of attorney I believe
and I am also listed as a co-owner on his checking account
I've been paying his bills since he entered the nursing home
from this checking account
this includes bills for his home which he owns
we wrote a Will ourselves and filled out paperwork
naming me as his power of attorney and notarized both
documents we also filed
a transfer of deed for the house listing
the reader's name and my sister's I'm wondering if
there's any way I will be held responsible if any debts
that exceed the value of his estate
especially if I need to sign for him
if he is admitted for medical care and unable to sign for himself
so listeners as you can see there is a lot of issues going on here
sounds like they created a Will themselves
filled it out they also did a deed
transferring the father's house from the father to
his children and then the father
was admitted to the nursing home
so I don't know all the facts
of this situation
but I attempted to answer the question
as much as I can this gets into complicated
areas of Medicaid planning
but in short to the reader if your father validly named you
as agent under his power of attorney
you can pay his bills for him under that POA document
it also sounds like you are named on the checking account
so he gave you authority to pay his bills
your question about being a co-owner of the checking account
and transferring the home to you and your sisters
gets into what I am
guessing is a question about divestment of assets
now for Medicaid there's a 5 year lookback
rule for gifts made to anyone
transfer for less than fair market value
it sounds like putting your name on
the checking account and then transferring the deed to the house
to you and your sisters was a gift that's what Medicaid
would look at as a divestment
Medicaid is the program that will pay for long term care
nursing home care for people who are
impoverished and don't have enough money to pay for it themselves
so your father can
gift the home to you and the checking account assets
as long as he has enough other money to pay for his nursing
home care for at least five years
if he does not then you should be aware of this
5-year lookback period by Medicaid
if your father goes into the nursing home and needs State of Wisconsin assistance
through the Medicaid program then
they will look back at these transfers
made to you and your sisters and it's possible
they would deny your father Medicaid assistance
for making these divestments
now the other thing I wanted to briefly
mention is that you said you had the Will notarized
a Will always needs two witnesses
so make sure it was witnessed by two people
who are not related by blood or marriage
and the Notary in addition to that is fine
but a Notary alone is not enough
the power of attorney can be signed in front of a Notary
I recommend you check all these documents
and discuss this situation holistically with
a Medicaid and estate planning attorney
there are many issues going on here and it's more complex
than I can answer in this brief video
but those are the things I would look at
and in general keep in mind that 5 year Medicaid divestment
lookback period
great question and thank you for asking.
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office.
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