I had to do repairs and a small facelift on his home, bought him clothing, eye glasses, etc. He is also a WWII vet. Kept all receipts from repairs, purchases. Is this really okay? Elder Care atty says it is, as long as it's spent on him, his home, his vehicle.
If dad does not have a fully paid per-need funeral & burial policy already done, that may be a better use of some of his funds.
Now did his atty explain the medicaid co-pay or SOC (share of cost) requirement?
Once in a NH & on Medicaid, dad will have to pay all his monthly income (SS, retirement) to the Nh as his SOC. All he will have is a smallish personal needs allowance. PNA varies by state from $35 - $ 115. The PNA is really enough to cover his barber shop & some clothing replacement. If he has a phone or cable at the NH, the charges could be all of his PNA. But that's it. Dad will have no-none-nada of $$$ to ever pay on anything house. At best, he could have 2k in assets plus his PNA but that's basically it. So if he wants to keep his home - which is usually allowed as an exempt asset as long as he indicates a desire to return - someone in the family will have to pay all costs on the house from March 1 till after he dies and then deal with however estate recovery (merp) is done for your state. Now keeping the house can make sense if the heirs have a good probability of exemptions or exclusions to MERP; or it's in some types of Life estate and your state does not go after LEs for recovery; or that your parent could return home. But whatever scenario still mean all costs on the house (taxes, insurance, maintenance.....) will have to be paid and possibly for years by others.
Or is $ being spent on the house, so it can be sold?
But, yes, what you describe is the "spend down" process, which many of us have gone through.
Both parents have pre need burial plans, NH will get their SS and retirement, except for $60 each, per month. They have more than 2k in assets, and I've been told NH will get at least 30% of that. Is this about right??
Have been spending money on freshening up the house, new paint, flooring, etc, and. Using them clothing, eye glasses, bedding, etc.
attorney had said Dad could still debit cash from account, on our outings. How much cash can be debited ? Have kept receipts for any cash purchases
Am I missing anything that I need to do in February? Also, can I lease the home out, in my name, and put money into account to be held in my name, for taxes, insurance etc?