Aged Parent Estate Planning
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Aged Parent Estate Planning
My Father has no Real Estate, but he has a IRA, a CD and a IRA/CD that totals
around 98,000.00 How can I protect it from the Nursing Home should he require
one. I know it would have to be in effect for five years or could he make me co-
owner and then they would get half?
Asked on December 1, 2017 under Estate Planning, Alabama
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
ANY change or transaction, including making you a joint owner of any of these assets or accounts, must be in effect for five (5) years prior to your father needing government support for a nursing home (e.g. Medicaid or from a state agency) or else the action/transaction can potentially be undone and the money captured by the government or nursing home. There are no exceptions to this five-year "look back" period, except that *if* the transaction was for fair market value--i.e. the person was paid what the asset or that share of the asset was then worth--it cannot be recaptured. Only fair market value transactions, not putting a family member on an account, etc., are safe.
That means that whatever you plan to do, do it *now*: the sooner you do, the sooner the 5-year clock starts running.
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