My mother is 88 years old and still living in her own home. She wants to continue to give monetary gifts at Christmas but is worried about the "look back" law. How much can she give that is considered reasonable so children won't have to pay back if she will need to qualify for Medicaid in the next 5 years.
But you're right; we're not the POA so, yes, also right, up to her, why talked to her; she's high up at a financial institution where she talked to their lawyer re - as I'm thinking she didn't really understand herself based on lawyer who did all that - the LE, thinking that all the children actually owned the property and could do with as will, especially since mil no longer lives there, not that was an actual stipulation, anyway, rather than it being than mil actually still owns it; she takes no responsibility, like as far as paying the taxes on it; she doesn't care since she doesn't live there and POA doesn't either, so if the children didn't go ahead and pay the taxes for their parts, everybody would just lose it all, which, again, mil probably wouldn't care and POA either, except for their part, which is a whole other issue, except that we've been given to understand - not from the POA - that all the money fil left her to take care of her is gone and if not "working" hence no MERP exemption then seems POA needs to be concerned, if no financial flexibility, unless she's planning on taking care of it herself? guess need to be finding out the rules here but nobody seems to want to, unless maybe as the ones who are having more to do with her and she with them, which doesn't seem to be us; her new hub came by our place over the weekend while she was out with them, including the poa; are finding out more as they do or are attempting to get more done; last time we talked mil didn't want to have anything to do with any of it; she didn't even want the le to be on the property; attorney just did it because had been done on the house part; said he wouldn't have any problem taking it off the rest if she'd just come in, but she doesn't want to bother with it, but maybe that's because of the money situation we didn't know about then and maybe poa knows as well
With elders living over 100 now a days, one never knows what will be the time line 5 years from now. So I need to be ready just in case with a lot of xerox copies of bills. For awhile I was needing to reimburse myself for caregiving bills that were pulled from my own checking account so those costs were a biggee.