Robert Albert Mason's Answers

Do we need an attorney or the police?

Your father's lady friend may or may not have violated Georgia law regarding exploitation of an elderly or disabled person (there are such laws). Further, the Chatham County DA does prosecute elder abuse crimes - they have a dedicated position to that. The DA successfully prosecuted a caregiver who took about $100,000 from a disabled client of mine (she got 5 years). The facts may or may not warrant prosecution. You all may need to take some steps short of criminal prosecution to (i) get...

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Adult child (role=Banker) needs to estab HELOC to needy elderly parents. How can I protect my evenual interest to property?

You should document the transaction in a sound arms-length manner. By that I refer to a loan agreement, a prom note and a deed of trust. That portion is not particularly unique to elder law, but that is how you would protect the repayment/recoupment of funds advanced. From an elder law standpoint there may be other issues depending upon whether Medicaid becomes relevant. You would want to make sure that the funds advanced equaled the equity in the house (or at least that you were not...

Medicaid and LT

If your mother's other assets are below the required threshhold (countable assets cannot exceed $2,000) she should have no problems QUALIFYING for Medicaid. The "life estate" (what you called an :T) should cause no problems. The next issue is whether upon her death the GA Medicaid program can attempt to recover against what is called "the remainder interest" (the passage of the house to you and your siblings). The rules promulgated by the state department that handles Medicaid says they...

MERP Medicaid Estate Reimbursement Program

I am not a Texas attorney, but as an elder law attorney in 2 other states I can tell you that you'd be well advised to seek counsel. A knowlegeable elder law attorney can save you much, much more than any fee you would pay the attorney. The application may seem straight forward, but the rules (and potential strategies) are quite complex.

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Can the state take a trust fund ? my father had a stroke 3 years ago and my bro moved him into his home to (quote) take care of

You haven't given any information about a trust fund. All you've mentioned is a joint checking account abusively used by your brother. I am not a Utah attorney, but most state Medicaid programs have provisions for either excusing an applicant who had funds taken and who have attempted unsuccessfully to retrieve those funds or, as an alternative, granting a hardship exception. As for the trust fund, I would need more information about the trust to be able to answer your question.