My mother has life lease on my home, if she dies does the state take away my home as her estate?

Question

Or if she gets sick and has to be in a hospital will the state view my home as her estate? I live in New York state.

Answer 1

You need to ask a lawyer. Generally a "life estate" (if that's what she has) mans she "owns" it until she dies whether she lives there or not & then it goes to whoever is entitled to the "remainder." For medicaid eligibility purposes states view these differently, but in general they can't "take it," on death because it automatically reverts to someone else.

Answer 2

She has a life lease upon your home. But you haven't given enough information to give a quick yes/no answer. You would need to furnish more details such as:

Question number 1: who owns the property? Her, you, joint?
Question number 2: is there a will in case of death? If not, state law applies.
Question number 3: is there a power of attorney in case of illness or should she be mentally inapt to do so? If not, state law applies.

I added 2 links below. The first can answer some question concerning the property issue and you can contact them for more info.

The second link is from the NY State Office for the Aging. Use it.

Generally speaking, if she is not covered by a health plan and if hospitalized, the state coverage will not aid her until her assets are totally used to cover her expenses. If the house is in your name, the state therefore cannot use your assets to pay her debts. I would recommend seeing a lawyer though (see second link again) to cover all the fine points. That or join a bowling league (or any sport league) with a lot of people and find out which one is a lawyer, befriend them and then ask him/her (laugh).

Answer 3

NO, if she dies the estate dies with her and it is valueless to the state. It reverts back to the owner( you?)

if the lease is free to her with no payments due, then if she is sick and does not reside there, perhaps the state may charge you the fair rent of the estate ( if you live there) or rent it out to get money she owes them.( if you are not living there) this is provided they have established their claim etc. you should resist as much as possible and maybe they will screw up or give up. When she later dies, the estate goes back to you.( or the owner)
She should be allowed some time to be sick before they can grab up her residence from her. Just because she is in hospital , that does not mean she does not have a right for her stuff to be undisturbed and her place to be saved for her. If the doctor's declare she will never get well, then the state may begin to act.
You may need to get a doctor that says she may recover to keep that ball in the air until she dies. who knows? it is all a matter of expert opinion isn't it? ( remember the schievo case?)
Do not roll over and let them intimidate you. fight fight fight.

Answer 4

If her name is on the deed, then the home is part of her estate.

If she has an insurance policy that states the home will be paid off at the time of her death, then whoever is in her will gets the house.

Answer 5

as long as the house is in your name, and your mother didn't sign it over to you just to get out of something, or its been 3 or more years, since she signed it over to you, then it is yours and the state cant do anything about it.

Answer 6

if you own the house, and your name is on the deed, it is not part of your mother's estate.

Answer 7

Do You Have A Lawyer

Answer 8

yes