Tending
Long-term care and Medicaid planning
For the family whose parent needs more care than the family can give, and the bill that comes with it.
Most calls start with a fall, a hospital stay or a talk about assisted living. By then the questions are urgent: how to pay for care, how to protect the parent who stays at home, and who can sign for Mom now.
I work through it with the grown children and, wherever possible, with the parent too. The plan is theirs.
What I help with
A Medicaid eligibility review and plan
The application, start to finish
Powers of attorney while a parent can still sign
Guardianship when nobody planned
Protecting the spouse who stays at home
Signs it's time to call
You don't need to wait for a crisis. These usually mean the questions are coming soon.
A fall, or a hospital stay
Discharge planning moves fast. It helps to know your options before the social worker calls.
Talk of assisted living
Care costs vary widely, and how you pay for it matters as much as where.
Bills going unpaid
Someone may need authority to step in, and it's simpler while a parent can still sign.
More forgetting than usual
A power of attorney signed early can spare the family a guardianship later.
Paying for care: common questions
Do my parents have to spend everything before Medicaid helps?
Not always. There are rules that protect a spouse at home and some savings, and planning ahead widens the options. I'll go through your parents' situation and tell you plainly what's possible.
Can we just put the house in our names?
Gifts can delay Medicaid eligibility for years, because the program looks back at what was given away. Please talk to me before anyone signs a deed.
Dad can't sign anymore. What now?
If there's no power of attorney, the court may need to appoint a guardian. It takes longer, but it's done often, and I'll walk you through each hearing.
Talk it through before the next appointment
Bring a list of your parent's accounts and bills. I'll tell you where you stand and what to do first.