How Can We Manage Mom's House While She is in a Nursing Home?

Let's talk for a minute about a difficult situation a lot of families face. It's difficult enough if you have a family member who is residing in a nursing home. That's hard. But when they have left the home out in the community that we can no longer support from their social security or pension that becomes a financial issue that is difficult as well.

I have three strategies for you so you can hold on to the house while your mother or family member is in a nursing home:

1) See if a bank is interested in loaning money under a line of credit. They could give you a checkbook and the ability to spend up to $25,000 or $50,000 and then you could use that checkbook to pay the taxes and insurance. So what you are doing is you're using a little bit of the equity to protect the asset.

2) Have a younger family move into the home and pay the bills directly. This will pay the taxes and insurance.

3) Rent the property. You can rent the property and from the rents received, you can pay the taxes and insurance. Any net income would be reportable to Medicaid and have to go to the nursing home.

I've prepared a eBook that's available for you to download and I invite you to do so now. This will get you up to speed on a lot of the issues with Medicaid eligibility in Florida. I also invite you to call the office if you want a consultation with more specific advice about your situation.

Walt Shurden
Board Certified Elder Law Attorney