Payback Rules.
I live in massachusetts. My mother is in a nursing home. She is in the final stages of applying for medicaid. She'll most likely be accepted. My sister, who has 8 kids, was given a gift of $5000 when my mother was already in the nursing home with dementia. I'm her son and my name was already on her bank account so I could pay her bills with her money. My sister has worked out a deal to pay $100 a month towards the $5000. At $100 a month $5000 will obviously take awhile to pay back. My question is if my mother should pass away before my sister pays it all back, my mother is 93 years old and in great shape, does my sister still have to pay back whatever amount is left? Thanks
If the $5000 was indeed a gift from your mother to your sister, there is no obligation to pay anything back. If you and your sister intended it as a loan, and your mother passes away before it is repaid in full, her executor would follow up on collection from her estate, if any. In either case, however, the issue is whether the transfer occurred within the 5-year lookback period for Medicaid eligibility. If it did, then divide the outstanding amount by the average monthly cost of the nursing home to determine how many months your mother would have to wait before being eligible for Medicaid, assuming she is otherwise qualified.
The above is not a complete reply, but it hard to know what is correct without more information. With whom does the sister have an agreement to repay? If with the state, then she must repay. (I tried to have the response NOT posted but it appeared anyway--sorry).
