Situation (located in Ohio):
a) Father is remarried for past 8 years. Father has two adult children - a son and daughter from previous marriage.
b) Father is close to needing LTC due to dementia.
c) Attorney advising his wife to divorce to protect assets, and allow Father to qualify for Medicaid.
d) Assets include wife's 401k ($400k) and house (equity of $200k).
e) Father has no savings of his own, just Social Security. Wife, who still works, has been primary, almost sole breadwinner throughout marriage.
f) Father has term life insurance policy worth $100k. Benficiaries to be determined, but intention is that wife is the beneficiary. She has been taking care of Father for four years now at a high cost.
g) Once divorce occurs, POA to be decided. It could go to Father's children, or it could go back to his (ex)wife. Wife wants to fully continue providing care until LTC is needed, make medical decisions, etc. The divorce is a planning tool only - wife still plans to look after father as any spouse would.
Questions:
1) How much must Father receive in divorce settlement to stay in good faith with law? Once he spends down, I'm sure that Medicaid is going to want to see that there was not an overt attempt to hide assets.
2) If Father has less than one year's worth of assets to self-pay for nursing home after divorce, is there risk that we won't be able to find a place for him? When a nursing reviews his admission application, what will they be looking for or require in terms of finanial resources? Will they demand signature from ex-wife or children to ensure payment if Medicaid is not approved after spend down?
3) Once Father is deceased, will government make a claim against his estate? There really won't be much of an estate at that point except the life insurance payout.
4) If Father spends down and Medicaid refuses coverage, not recognizing the divorce, what happens? Does government then force ex-wife to pay for care for a period of time? There is a Filial Responsibility Statute in Ohio - will government hold kids responsible? Is person with POA held liable?
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
a) Father is remarried for past 8 years. Father has two adult children - a son and daughter from previous marriage.
b) Father is close to needing LTC due to dementia.
c) Attorney advising his wife to divorce to protect assets, and allow Father to qualify for Medicaid.
d) Assets include wife's 401k ($400k) and house (equity of $200k).
e) Father has no savings of his own, just Social Security. Wife, who still works, has been primary, almost sole breadwinner throughout marriage.
f) Father has term life insurance policy worth $100k. Benficiaries to be determined, but intention is that wife is the beneficiary. She has been taking care of Father for four years now at a high cost.
g) Once divorce occurs, POA to be decided. It could go to Father's children, or it could go back to his (ex)wife. Wife wants to fully continue providing care until LTC is needed, make medical decisions, etc. The divorce is a planning tool only - wife still plans to look after father as any spouse would.
Questions:
1) How much must Father receive in divorce settlement to stay in good faith with law? Once he spends down, I'm sure that Medicaid is going to want to see that there was not an overt attempt to hide assets.
2) If Father has less than one year's worth of assets to self-pay for nursing home after divorce, is there risk that we won't be able to find a place for him? When a nursing reviews his admission application, what will they be looking for or require in terms of finanial resources? Will they demand signature from ex-wife or children to ensure payment if Medicaid is not approved after spend down?
3) Once Father is deceased, will government make a claim against his estate? There really won't be much of an estate at that point except the life insurance payout.
4) If Father spends down and Medicaid refuses coverage, not recognizing the divorce, what happens? Does government then force ex-wife to pay for care for a period of time? There is a Filial Responsibility Statute in Ohio - will government hold kids responsible? Is person with POA held liable?
Thanks for any insight you can provide.
