Re: SS (DI) experts and opinons needed

On Oct 11, 4:07 pm, Codee...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:11:52 -0000, Legend <livin...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 11, 5:32 pm, "OldGoat" <oldgoatm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hey folks,

My sister has had some health problems all her life. Psychologically she's
got a real world intelligence of roughly a 12 year old. Physically, she has
epilepsy among other varied issues. She's been receiving some type of Social
Security benefit (I'd be lying if I said I was sure it was SSDI) since she
was 17 or 18.
Now that Mom has passed on, there's all kinds of benefits and assets (not
the least of which is the house) that are popping up every day. I know my
LTD is not affected by my personal assets, but since she's been on Medicare
and Medicaid for so long I'm concerned about her Social Security situation
and the estate assets disqualifying her for her bennies. And since she had a
psychotic breakdown shortly after Mom's passing, she's been in mental
hospital after mental hospital (that's a novel on it's own, with even the
state suggesting a malpractice suit for her treatment at one of these
hospitals) and is now in a group home, with the state Adult Protective
services saying she's not capable of living on her own, which I whole
heartedly agree with, but the group home is not covered by any of these
insurances and it's costing the estate (me) 2300 clams a month to keep her
in a safe environment and transportation to and from whatever kind of
therapy they're doing to her at Johns Hopkins.
I know this is more legal material, but with this info, can anyone give me
an idea of what kind of asset caps she's looking at, what kind of steps
might be appropriate to preserve her portion of the inheritance without
blowing her monthly benefits.How would giving her the house effect the
situation? Without those she may hold her own for a couple months, maybe
even years, but with all the medical bills (I saw one for $28,000 the other
day) it wont be long before she's tapped dry again.
Her life with Mom was 52 years between the 4 walls of the house, I'd like to
see her have at least enough money to do something nice for herself, a trip,
a cruise, something. And nothing sticks in my craw more than giving money to
the tax guys.
I appreciate any info or ideas. My sister is a real bitch. I've had to pull
scissors out of my back afar being stabbed by her, and there's more than one
pot or pan that has the imprint of my head dented in to them. But she's all
the family that's left. I feel obligated to do what I can, deserving or
not...
--
Be Sure to Check Out the PAYNE HERTZ blog, for people with chronic pain, by
people with chronic pain.
join in at:http://paynehertz.blogspot.com

OG,

Your parents probably should have set up a special needs trust-in
which she would continue to receive medical benefits from the
government, yet get allowed certain 'extras',, which she normally
couldn't afford.

Although some of MY family is now going through some trouble, because
my aunt, who died 3 months ago left certain things vague, it sounds
like a good idea-in principle. Are you legally entrusted with her
part of the inheritance? You may be able to set it up,now. Or maybe
it IS set up-and you just need to learn the ropes!

It depends a lot on how much money is involved. It IS rather
expensive to set up-at least $1.000 more than a regular will.
However, if you have a lawyer who knows you, and knows that he's
getting all of your legal business, he may cut you some slack. One
thing is in your favor-if I'm not mistaken, you and your sister are
the only next-of-kin (surviving offspring) of your parents. The
executor of my aunt's estate has to get the signature of every blood
relative, whether they were left anything or not, before any of her
estate is released!

I knew someone in my parole rehab, who had something like this. He
would have to try and make his SSI last-but, if something came up, and
he was late with his rent, for example, his brother, acting as
trustee, could open the trust, giving out enough to make ends meet.
But, I have a feeling that he was kept on a 'short leash', because,
his drinking problem was so severe that any laxity would erase this
guy's inheritance in no time-plus, those of any brothers and sisters
who could be taken in by him! You sound s if you can maintain better
control over your sister's spending habits, so your agreement may not
be so complicated. And, the guy I mentioned came from a
very large family-ten, at the time I knew him, down from 12-two of his
sisters had died between his parent's deaths, and the time I met him.

Well if I haven't totally confused you, (or, even if I have), the
place to start-unless you do have a 'family attorney' for these
matters,and,if you did, I think that he'd be already be involved-call
one or two of those lawyers who offer 'free consultations'. Just tell
him the story, as you told us, and, make sure you ask about a 'special
needs trust'-just say you heard it on the internet, and wanted to
explore all of your options. as I say, it's expensive-so, he won't
just brush it off-unless he can really see no option of using it, in
your case. Listen to him when he speaks of each option. Is your
sister considered competent to give money away? If she gave it to
you, she could keep collecting all her benefits, with no fear of it
changing. Of course, you'd have to pay taxes on such a large monetary
'gift'-another thing to consider-but, some things might be figured
out. Listen to every option. And, if there are several lawyers
advertising free consults, try to find one ho specializes in something
like disability, trusts, or inheritance law. sure, the lawyer may
refer you-but your second consult isn't free. so, try to find someone
knowledgeable and responsible-from the start.

So, after all this, my advice is to see a professional. Hope you get
things worked out. As always, I wish you the best. And your sister,
too. If I learn anything ore specific, I'll let you know!

-Legend

Just the AMEN corner piping up over here, so emphasize Legend's words
about professional help! This is much too sticky to do without it
O.G.!

I'm sorry, my situation was different, in that the property
distribution was laid out specifically for my brother even long after
our mothers death, with me as his trustee. We JUST settled and sold
the little house she'd bought for him to LIVE in.
Fortunately, he was protected from taxes, because in the fine print
on the back of the property tax form (where no one ever reads) it
states that no one over a certain age, or collecting disability
payments must pay property tax.

Having said that....he never wanted the house placed entirely in his
name, though there were provisions for it. He knew that in this state,
if you're forced into a nursing facility, is find out whether you own
any real estate, if you do.....make that past tense, "I used to own a
house.". They take everything you own before they start tapping into
the state coffers...unless, as in my mother's situation, it's laid out
so that ownership is maintained by the estate, who might see something
coming on and sell the house sooner:...IOW I'm now confusing myself,
so I hope you'll make those calls!

Good Luck to You....your're a good brother,

codeee- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Aloha OG!

I really have nothing concrete to add as far as the questions about
benefits go. I'm just posting to let you know you have more than my
usual "please keep everyone who suffers CP in my support group safe
and in as low a level of pain, or NO PAIN, as possible" prayers for
you my friend.

In your post to LC you briefly touched on the topic that's concerning
ME the most. Not that figuring out everything you're trying to figure
out isn't important, that goes without saying. But the part you put in
parentheses "(though who knows how sis is going to handle that)", is
(and probably IS your 2nd most concern) by far, going to be a problem.
If she treats YOU, her own brother, the way she does, can you imagine
how she'll be with TWO new total strangers staying in "her Mom's
house" especially with one of them literally staying in "her Mom's
bedroom"?!!?

I'd be so wary to leave her with another person who needs to stay in a
group home (unless she already KNOWS them and gets along with them),
let alone the poor caregiver who'll have to have great peripheral
vision in order to see those pots, pans, scissors, your sister and who
knows what else, that may come flying at her behind her back. S/he had
better be in good shape and be ready to be physical at times with her,
if that's the case.

Of course I know that you must have thought about the "how will she
'take' this or that" and "will she behave herself always or will she
end up committing assault (or worse) because of her occasional
temperament?

If she can't live by herself OG, how will she take a vacation such as
a cruise or a trip? Maybe I took your descriptions of her actions
against you way too literally. If she has moments where she stabs and
tries to split her own brothers skull, what will she do to total
strangers that innocently "rub her the wrong way" some day? YIKES!

Now OG...I think I've told everyone here this before, however, just in
case; I have a tendency to take some things I read to the extreme.
Even some things I HEAR. The wife of an employer I had about 12 years
ago gave me a nickname because of that: Mr. Alarmist. BWAHAHAHA! Of
course I would always just remember that she was "full of **it"
whenever she called me that, but from time to time when I post or say
the above types of things, I remember those old times. Maybe she was
on to something after all? Maybe, possibly, perhaps....

So take what I said with "however many grains of salt you wish". OK?
Just a passing panicked thought I thought I should mention. My 2 cents
if you will....

Whatever!

Aloha Just For Now,
Hawaiian Wayne

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: I Could Use Some Purrs (OT)...Purrs On The Way
    ... Sadly the lawyer I hired has been less than helpful...latest ... My mother left me her house. ... therefore I "get" more of the estate than he and my oldest brother. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Inheritance question.
    ... estate together with another brother. ... house with a fair proportion of land. ... Father had been renovating the house ...
    (uk.finance)
  • I Could Use Some Purrs (OT)
    ... He kept going on and on about how unfair it was, I get the house therefore I "get" more of the estate than he and my oldest brother. ... When I found out he'd called the lawyer about this petty crap after trying to get me to give stuff to some bartender and a Thai restaurant I said screw this. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: I Could Use Some Purrs (OT)
    ... He kept going on and on about how unfair it was, I get the house therefore I "get" more of the estate than he and my oldest brother. ... When I found out he'd called the lawyer about this petty crap after trying to get me to give stuff to some bartender and a Thai restaurant I said screw this. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: Raccoons and the modern urban environment
    ... The estate was basically split three ... My sister was handling the probate, as it's something she knows about. ... "No," I said, "A holiday was a necessity, not frittering. ... I've had occasion to get into the details of taxes in the last few fraught months - one of my father's brothers-in-law died in April leaving me 2% of his estate, but he had received some £60K in compensation for a nasty car crash he was an innocent victim of a few years ago, so together with his house he had quite a reasonable estate. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.fandom)