Home Confiscation at Retirement

[Frank51]

My wife and I are both 58 yrs old, we have $56,000 left on our mortgage. Is it true that if one or both of us upon receiving social security are forced into a nursing home they can take our home to repay this or other medical debts?
Secondly, if we sell or give away our home 5 yrs prior to being confined to a nursing or medical facility we could in trouble for fraud?
If indeed this or part of these questions are true what do we do so we don't lose our home?
Should we place one of our adult children on our deed or sell it to them and live here until death, we both don't what to go to a nursing home due to all the abuse and mistreatment.
Please help if you can and God Bless

Frank51

 

[seniorjudge]

Your home can be taken if you don't pay any kind of debt, not just medical.

As far as giving your home away to avoid paying your bills later on in life, please get very good legal advice and know what you are doing. Once it's done, you can't take it back.

 

[MJB621]

Retirement and your h ome

I went through this with my 93 year old grandparents and here is what happened. They both went into a nursing home -- but the home was kept for them to come home to -- it was assumed they would recover and be coming back home. Even after grandpa died and grandma lived on in the nursing home, the home was allowed to be maintained for her to come home to. That is the the key to it all.

When they died, the home went to my mom and she was able to sell it. There also was $30,000 in their bank account I was able to write to my mom as a "gift" and for home imporvement on the residence that was to be maintained. Since the money was going to home improvement toward the residence being maintained for grandma to come home to -- there was not problem.

Also, you can prepay all funeral expenses and then whatever the funeral home does not use can be refunded to the family. You are allowed to pay for a funeral out of funds before the nursing home gets them.

So no , you can keep the home as long as they live if you use that wording -- for her to return to when she gets out of the nursing home. Nobody can assume that at some time in the future she will not be able to return home. She is allowed to keep her place under those terms and not be homeless.

Now, pension checks, social security checks, etc went straight to the nursing home.