Posted on: 09th Feb, 2009 02:48 pm
My mother moved from a FL condo to NY. She fell and is now in a nursing home, just got approved for Medicaid. She has a life estate with my brother and I as joint tenants with right of survivorship on the condo - done 20 years ago. The condo has been on the market- nothing is selling. Medicaid wants her to sign permission to attach an open ended lien on the condo. She cannot afford to pay the maintenence or assessments. We don't want to give the condo away and want to keep it but don't want all the proceeds going to medicaid after we maintain it. An elder atty originallly told us that it was no problem if we held onto the condo until after she passed. However, he didn't expect Medicaid to attach a lien. Please advise.
Since your mother is the life tenant of the condo and not the owner, she can allow Medicaid to place a lien on the condo because her right on the condo will end with her. Moreover, what I think is that as she does not have any resource for maintaining the property there is no use of keeping it and paying rent on it.