A question to help out a friend

[woohoogirl]

My friend has been taking care of her elderly friend, not family, but about all the older lady has. The elderly lady was able to take out a HELOC on her house a year or so ago. The time has come to that the elderly lady must go to the nursing home. Now here's my question, and any thoughts you might have would be appreciated...if my friend were to use the remaining balance on the lady's HELOC to pay for a few months at the nursing home for the lady, until Medicaid was established, would this be fraudulent? Especially, if my friend's intention was to let the bank have the house after foreclosure or a deed in lieu, as the house is very old and in less than good shape.

I thought I'd ask here as everybody is so helpful and got me through my BK!!!!

Thanks!!!!

[Flamingo]

Your friend needs to consult with an elder care attorney; without having a Power of Attorney to do anything on her friend's behalf, she can end up in jail. Before she does anything further, tell her to have a consultation with an elder care lawyer (call the State Bar Association for the State in which the elderly lady resides if you or the friend does not know where to start).

[woohoogirl]

Actually my friend does have POA for the elderly lady. My friend is not very young either, so I'm trying to do some research to help her out. I guess I've got my brain so BK fraudulent wired that things that might be normal stand out like a sore thumb. If the bank legitimately opened the line of credit for the elderly lady, then she (or those designated to do so) use the money and it wouldn't be fraudulent. They aren't looking at filing BK, just let the bank foreclose on the property, and the woman is at the point (mentally and physically) that her time left on this earth isn't long.

Thanks again.

[Flamingo]

I still advise you or your friend to seek counsel from an elder care lawyer. I also advise you and your friend to talk to some counselers at the nursing home about this situation. If you spend that HELOC money, she may not qualify for Medicaid since her assets will need to be spent down to $2,000 and they would want the house sold and the value of the house before Medicaid kicks in. There are issues there (been through a lot of that with my mother and the Medicaid situation) and you don't want to fool around with it. Get correct advice directly from an elder care attorney and seek out the trained Medicaid counselors at the nursing home she will be in.

[AngelinaCat]

I second Flamingo's advice. Years ago, my two cousins had to put their mother (my aunt on my mother's side, who developed Alzheimer's) into a nursing home. My cousins couldn't pay for it--they had already almost gone broke keeping an in-home companion for their mother, and my aunt only got a very modest ss check. She had no assets other than a modest 1950s model home. But the cousins had to get that out of my aunt's name and wait about 18 months until Medicaid set in.

This was in 1985, and much in Elder Law has changed since then.