Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:53 pm Post subject: Is the Lady Bird Deed effective in allowig my Mother-in-law
My mother-in law- is about to turn 91 and my wife just recently had to placve her in a nursing home for her safety. She can not wlak without assistance and is subject to falling and hurting herself. She was always a strong self-sufficeint individual who worked very hard her entire life wiht little to show for it. She has a small amount of savings and a very small home in Belton Texas. My wife has power of attorney for her medical and financial needs and has been writing checks to the nursing home for the last three months using my mother -in laws checking account. Her money in checking and savings will run out in about 1 year from now based on the current nursing home rates and her medical needs. My mother-in -law has expressed some concern about having to sell her home because the state will consider it as an asset and require it to be liquidated prior to prpoviding assistance for her care. My wife met with some people form the state a couple of weeks backt o find out what needs to be done and when we need to start processing the paperwork for assistance. The representative she met with indicated that the savings, annuity and checking accounts and all other assets will ahve to be at $2,000 or less prior to the state contributing. This person also mentioned to my wife that the house could be protected by cmpleting a Lady Bird Deed. We have never heard of a Lady Bird Deed and are nto sure if this would be an effective tool for protecting her house or if there is some other means to keep form having to sell the house prior to obtianing state assistance for her nursing home care. A realestate agent int he area valued her home at around $40,000. Hope you can offer some help and guidance.
A ladybird deed can help to protect the home till your mother-in-law is alive. Your mother-in-law has to be on the deed with you and/or your wife as beneficiaries. Consult an estate planning attorney before using a ladybird deed. _________________ Procrastination is the enemy of your financial sucess
philklefas
