Seniors and the Law is authored by the attorneys at
Jackson White Attorneys at Law and addresses legal issues that arise for the
elderly and their families. Questions
can be sent to firm@jacksonwhitelaw.com.
Q: I moved in with my mother about three
years ago to provide her with care.
Since that time I have been able to attend to her needs, but I am
starting to require some additional help.
I want to help Mom apply for the ALTCS program, but I hear that the
state will take her home, which is troubling given that I currently reside in
this home. Is there advice you can
offer?
Before I address your question, I
want to address a piece of misinformation that seems to be guiding your
assessment. It is important to
understand that the state never takes an ALTCS member’s home in exchange for
ALTCS eligibility. Rather, the general
rule is that ALTCS can place a lien on an ALTCS member’s home if that ALTCS
member’s spouse, minor child, or disabled child does not also live in the
home. The state can only enforce this
lien upon the member’s death.
Assuming that you are no longer a
minor child, then, ALTCS will likely attach a lien to the home if your mom
qualifies for the program and if she
is placed in a facility. However, like
most rules of generality, the rule that ALTCS can recover against the equity in
its members’ homes does have a few exceptions.
One such exception seems to apply to the facts presented in the question
above.
If the child of an ALTCS member
has lived in that member’s home for a period of two or more years and has
provided care to the ALTCS member that has kept that member from being
institutionalized, the ALTCS member can transfer his or her home to the child
without penalty. ALTCS will need to
examine the evidence before allowing this type of a transfer, but this is
definitely worth exploring given the facts presented here.
Richard
White is an elder law attorney at JacksonWhite Attorneys at Law. For more information on Elder Law at JacksonWhite,
please visit www.ArizonaSeniorLaw.com.
This article is provided for
informational purposes only and is not intended to replace individual legal
advice.
For more information about Jackson White Elder
Law or to download any of their free resources, feel free to visit: www.arizonaseniorlaw.com/resources
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