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he has 11 vehicle titles in his name but only has possession of one of the vehicles. I was told he could write a statement explaining what is going on with the other titles. for example the flatbed trailer and crew truck are being used by my brother for the construction handyman business my brother uses these. three of the vehicles are being used by his granddaughters. they make the payments and pay the insurance and they have possession of the vehicles. I was hoping someone could give me an example of the the statement I need to write should look like. thank you

All the excess (more than 1) vehicles will need to be sold for fair market value, then that money spent down on his care before qualifying for Medicaid.

Medicaid is for the destitute, not people with extensive car collections.
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Reply to ZippyZee
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Yeah. No.
(as the kids all say).
That won't work.
Those are his vehicles.
Moreover he cannot "gift them away".
So this is a real problem.
See an elder law attorney for advise on how to approach this. Take all details with you. Don't apply until this is all handled in a way that will not include "gifting" and etc. Good luck. You can't afford to be wrong about this or he will be denied.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Medicaid rules vary by state and you haven't revealed what state your Father resides in.

I'm leaning like the others, that a title in your name, whether in your "possession" or not, or being used by you or not, or being paid for by you or not -- is still you owning 11 vehicles in the eyes of Medicaid. Medicaid doesn't necessarily want to go down the rabbit hole of who is using the vehicles which titles are clearly in your name. You will need to call the caseworker or Medicaid office to get a clear answer.

We were on hold for 2 hrs trying to get to speak to an actual Medicaid rep when we were having reapplication issues, but it was worth it.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Your Dad won’t be eligible for LTC Medicaid program till he gets his assets to be within the guidelines that his State has set. LTC is the Medciaid prpgram that pays custodial care costs in a NH for him. By & large, the applicant can continue to have a (1) homestead and a / one (1) vehicle retained as exempt assets for his lifetime. Both car & home have to be under whatever value limits his State has set for these type of assets. After he dies, they become nonexempt assets of his Estate.

11 titles in his name. Whew! He is so not going to be eligible. Anyone who has told you this will fly, is clueless as to how the LTC Medical program is administered. If you do this, I can hear the caseworker laughter as this is so so so over what is allowed. 11 is just massive amount of real property that he has got to sell 10 of and sell at its Fair market Value which would be the Kelly Blue Book value (easiest to use)

Really Medicaid DNGAF what drama is behind who drives what, who pays for what, if they are family or they are poor, etc. If each of those 11 vehicles title reads his name and his name only, they are all 100% legally his. He has to sell 10 of them and all the $ from the sale is his. If the title is shared, then he owns his % share and the other person on the title has to buy out your Dads share at FMV so they can own it 100% or they sell it and share the proceeds as it’s co-owned.Please be aware He cannot gift any of the cars nor can he gift any of the $ the cars are sold for. Gifting has its own penalty placed on his application if he does it. All the car sale $ will be used for the “spend down” he will end up doing to get to the point where he is impoverished. The rules are very narrow for LTC Medicaid program: 1 car & 1 house. The only way around vehicles - that I’ve ever seen happen would be if - IF - there are vehicles needed for an currently active farm or ranch that the applicant owns….. as special exemptions for that somewhat uncommon situation.

Normally something this complicated an elder law attorney would deal with. If your family that are using all these vehicles will not be at all kumbaya in doing what has to happen to quickly return the vehicles to your Dad, so he can sell them, the atty will have to do filings to get them to return the cars. This will take time and $. It will not be pretty. I would suggest that Dad holds off entering a NH or filing for LTC Medicaid till all this is done. Ask the atty to shepherd his application once the car chaos is done.,


If others tell you nobody will know abt the cars, realize caseworker can access the State real property database in just a few keystrokes. It will all surface to be seen. I’m not trying to be harsh on this….. the reality is till all his over-resourced financially issues are dealt with and correctly, he will not be eligible. No matter how much medically he is “at need” for a NH right now. He financially is not “at need”. Both have to happen for eligibility for LTC Medicaid.
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Reply to igloo572
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Hopiegirl Nov 16, 2024
In my state they cannot even own a home! I had to sell my mom’s house just to be able to pay for her care. You are right about they DGAF. They also go by gross income and not net which is insane because the funds are not there. I made a mistake and did not keep my receipts from 27 years ago when I had a home built for my mom. The house was put in both our names even though I had paid the bulk of it. Medicaid was “kind” enough to only count 50% of the sale as her assets, but did not allow for what the net proceeds were! They went by total sale price. I also made a mistake a put money in my account because I paid all her bills. I was punished by not putting it all in her account. I also had the fear of her stepson stealing it like he did everything else. I wish now I had not sold the house.

Medicaid is a nightmare dealing with as you already know.

If I die before she does which is very possible due to the stress and my own health she will have no one to help her at all. I am close to my mom’s age when she started having issues. Dementia is a brutal disease to deal with.
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You may not like my answer. But we all pay state taxes and estate taxes pay for your father’s long-term care because he’s impoverished and cannot pay with his own funds.
This is not Medicare that he paid premiums for.

This is a form of welfare for the poorest people.
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Reply to Pokey33
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JimDurden48: Go to Medicaid.gov.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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If your dad has assets in his name, Medicaid will not consider him impoverished. They will tell him to sell those assets and use the money for his care. And once he is out of that money he would be able to reapply. I suggest talking with an Elder Lawyer to advise you/him on the best way to handle this because Medicaid will do a 5 yr look back with regard to your dads finances.
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Reply to Jamesj
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Have him sign over the titles to each one. They need to own up to their responsibility as much as he needs to let them.
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Reply to RetiredBrain
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ZippyZee Nov 18, 2024
That would be gifting assets. His Medicaid would be instantly denied.
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Based on where you live. there are 10states that did not change their medicaid/medi-cal. Shame on them. I live in calif and the only thing medi-cal can look at is your income. The only reason your 11 vehicles count is the payment you receive (gdaughters car payment to you) as that's an income. It does not matter how much money you have in a bank,savings etc. what does matter is again income like interest from that money you have. There are many medi-cal advocates that can help with the app (for a fee) please what ever you do don't spend down until you have been giving the proper information. Also medi-cal reps some are old school and not follow the new rules if any. and the new workers can make huge mistakes do to lack of knowledge. The worst thing you will want to hear is woops or sorry and you just made yourself very poor and no way to get it back. nor will medi-cal reimburse your loss.
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Reply to LoniG1
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