Can I move Mom in with me without jeopardizing her SSI and Medicare?

Why not hire a caregiver through cash and counseling? They qualify by having low income. They also would qualify for home fix services available to seniors as well as the disabled. Even a person on SS can get a caregiver paid for by the state, if the are low income. In the end the programs get paid back by the sale of the house. You can even get paid as the caregiver, if you want the hands on...

Listen to Sherry1anne ... think and then think again. I have my mil every other month and believe me its not something I would suggest anyone do this way or on a full time basis (which would have to be worse). I get that its your mom and your sister and not your mil which changes it a bit ... but still and all it absolutely without question changes the dynamics of a relationship. Definitely be aware of that ... the change between my mil and I ... night and day ... and definitely not for the better!

Why not keep them in your mom's home and get some kind of aid to get the house fixed up. A friend of mine got a new furnace and a new roof for free because she is low income. There are many local programs that could help out. While I don't like reverse mortgages, this might be worth looking into for this situation as well. Once you move a family member into your home, it changes the relationship dynamics sometimes in a very unpleasant way. Be aware of that.

Do you mean Medicaid or Medicare? Medicare shouldn't change, MEDICAID is a whole different story.

You can move both your mother and sister into your home without them losing their benefits. If you are using their money for their care, be sure and document where you spent their money. If your mother and sister are both incapacitated (and not legally incompetent) AND this is what they want, you can be made "Representative Payee" on both accounts with Social Security as they do not recognize or honor powers of attorneys. You will need a doctor's signature saying they are incapable of handling their own affairs, and when they both accompany you into a local social security office, they will be asked questions by the examiner. Have just gone through this with my husband. You will need to report yearly about how you spent their money, so do not mess with social security...

Sorry for the typos - iPad issues.....

They - mom & your sister - are really 2 different paths for planning. Elder law for mom & special needs for Sissy. I would suggest you find an estate lawyer who has special needs trusts experience. An experienced estate law firm will be able to do things for mom too if they have some elder law associates which most will. Yes all this will have costs but mom will have funds to do so from sale of home. Really need to do this so that it works for however Medicaid & other laws run in your state. Also you want to have or update your POAs fire them, & get wills done or updated (a codicil) & everybody should pay for their own work. A good experienced law firm know how to make all this work. It is good that you want to do this & look into this before the sale & they move in!

My thoughts are you want to do whatever to position mom to be eligible for Medicaid. She may never need it but if she does 6 years from mom & you have planned towards that, it will mean less work for you then. Is mom getting regular SS or is she getting SSDI? If regular SS, then the $ from the sale house has no effect on her SS monthly check. Mom could place the proceeds some of the proceeds from the sale of the home into a special needs trust for sissy. there was significant change on SNT for 2015 - they can now have 14K a year placed in without any affect on benefits. This to a maximum of 100K. Mom could stretch out house $ over a few years to Sissys trust to build towards the 100K maximum. Sissy is likely to outlive mom so this is a good thing. In turn you can use the $ in the SNT years from now to be able to get things for sissy that Medicaid never will.

For mom, perhaps look into having attorney do a personal care contact between mom & you so mom pays you for your caregiving or a rental agreement so mom pays you for rent. Whichever you need to do this correctly ( taxes, reporting) so that no gifting / transfer penalty issues for Medicaid years & years from now.

Is house in moms name only? then anything done on the house to get it market ready needs to be paid by mom & keep receipts on all. Mom may need to do taxes for this year & you want her to offset the proceeds from the house from expenses on the house. When you are moving mom, be sure to save all receipts or bills that show any repairs or replacement work done on house from years ago too as all can make a difference for house gains for taxes.

As far as timeline here's my suggestion:
- drive around mom ' hood and look for Realtor names on signs. There likely are just afew who have multiple listings in the area. Them google moms address to see what names also have listings. The names that pop up on both lists are the ones you contact to come over to look at the house. They all can put together a lusting agreement with comps book for you. If they are with a MLS group ( most are) this s super easy fir them to do too.
- Take the comp books along with details on mom & Sissy to the law firm. Yiu need their awards letters ( these went out in Dec) and then their 2014 tax statement ( this goes out this month) and then whatever prior legal exists for mom & sissy. All this just provides legal to have a definite benchmark as to $ & Sissy's handicap.
- then after you see legal, then deal with SSA.
Good luck in all thisvasap& in getting your house ready for them

Check with an elder law attorney, they will be able to discuss options and legal issues. It's good you are willing to be responsible for both by opening your home. Keep all receipts and a log of what you do for them such as transporting to doctor appoints etc. The money from the sale of the house has to go for your mom's care, however I would think you can count transportation costs, food, partial utility costs etc. as acceptable expenses.

My son is disabled and receives SSI. Any change in his living arrangements has to be reported to Social Security by the representative payee. They use a formula to determine the SSI benefit amount. The person must be able to pay his prorata share of household expenses. If you, your mom and sister were living together, each one would be expected to pay a third. If a third would be too much money for them to pay, then their benefit would be cut because you will be seen as subsidizing their living expenses. An elder law attorney can better explain your individual situation, particularly with regard to selling the house. If the proceeds of the house go directly to your mother she will become ineligible for assistance.

I agree that you need to check with an elder law attorney who knows your state Medicaid laws. I don't think this should affect anything but so much depends on where you/they live that you need to be very careful how you go about this. Good luck with your plans. We'd love to hear back from you as make this transition.
Carol