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Qualified Income Trust & POA

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What is the name of your state? Texas

A friend of mine just had to put her father in a nursing home following an illness. His doctor has informed her that he will require 24 hr care for the rest of his life. She is to be given POA over his affairs and has prepared a form for his signature tomororw. Also, the nursing home, after examining his income information, provided her with information regarding setting up a Qualified Income Trust in order for him to qualify for medicaid funded nursing care.

Background: He had been living in her garage apartment for the past 5 or so years and she and her husband had been providing his care (insulin injections, etc.) However before he moved in with them 5 yrs ago, he had not had a relationship with his daughter since he divorced her mother when she was a child. There are 3 other grown siblings, as well, who are still estranged from him. She has also been caring for her husband's mentally challenged adult sister since having to put her mother (husband's mother) in same nursing home for advanced alzheimers. So, she and her husband have had a lot to deal with in caring for their parents with NO help at all from any of their siblings.

Questions:

1. He has no assets. He received a monthly SSI check as well as a retirement pension. She is under the impression from the nursing home that only one of the income sources needs to be placed in the Qualified Income Trust in order for him to be eligible for medicaid. If this is true, can they choose which one? In other words, it would be easier to change the direct deposit of the pension check to the trust account than it would be to change SSI, however, SSI may be the larger check. Does it matter?

2. Also, her father's life insurance currently names her as beneficiary and names one of her brothers as a secondary beneficiary. He would like to change the secondary beneficiary to his grandchildren, but this has not been done yet. However, they need to set up the trust and execute it and the POA as soon as possible. The POA does not give her authority to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. Can HE still change it after signing the POA for his daughter to take care of all of his other financial matters?

3. Lastly, do the trust agreement and or the POA need to be recorded or filed with any court? Can they just be executed (with witness signatures and notarization) and stored in a safe deposit box for safe keeping?

I may have to do this for my parents some day, so I'm happy to try to help her find the answers to these questions.
 
Last edited:


BlondiePB

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Texas

A friend of mine just had to put her father in a nursing home following an illness. His doctor has informed her that he will require 24 hr care for the rest of his life. She is to be given POA over his affairs and has prepared a form for his signature tomororw. Also, the nursing home, after examining his income information, provided her with information regarding setting up a Qualified Income Trust in order for him to qualify for medicaid funded nursing care.

Background: He had been living in her garage apartment for the past 5 or so years and she and her husband had been providing his care (insulin injections, etc.) However before he moved in with them 5 yrs ago, he had not had a relationship with his daughter since he divorced her mother when she was a child. There are 3 other grown siblings, as well, who are still estranged from him. She has also been caring for her husband's mentally challenged adult sister since having to put her mother (husband's mother) in same nursing home for advanced alzheimers. So, she and her husband have had a lot to deal with in caring for their parents with NO help at all from any of their siblings.

Questions:

1. He has no assets. He received a monthly SSI check as well as a retirement pension. She is under the impression from the nursing home that only one of the income sources needs to be placed in the Qualified Income Trust in order for him to be eligible for medicaid. If this is true, can they choose which one? In other words, it would be easier to change the direct deposit of the pension check to the trust account than it would be to change SSI, however, SSI may be the larger check. Does it matter?

2. Also, her father's life insurance currently names her as beneficiary and names one of her brothers as a secondary beneficiary. He would like to change the secondary beneficiary to his grandchildren, but this has not been done yet. However, they need to set up the trust and execute it and the POA as soon as possible. The POA does not give her authority to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. Can HE still change it after signing the POA for his daughter to take care of all of his other financial matters?

3. Lastly, do the trust agreement and or the POA need to be recorded or filed with any court? Can they just be executed (with witness signatures and notarization) and stored in a safe deposit box for safe keeping?

I may have to do this for my parents some day, so I'm happy to try to help her find the answers to these questions.
You omitted stating whether or not your friend's father is competent.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
You omitted stating whether or not your friend's father is competent.
Yes...that is the starting point of this discussion.

By "incompetent", we mean is he mentally able to understand what is going on around him enough to sign anything? He could be totally crippled (e.g., Stephen Hawking) and still be brilliant.

So it is his mind we are wondering about.
 
He has not been found legally incompetent by any court or other authority. He is able to understand and communicate, but only in the simple terms. He is not, however capable of handling his own financial affairs. He has been prescribed medication for alzheimers, but has not been admitted to the nursing home because of it, but rather because of other health complications.
 

BlondiePB

Senior Member
He has not been found legally incompetent by any court or other authority. He is able to understand and communicate, but only in the simple terms. He is not, however capable of handling his own financial affairs. He has been prescribed medication for alzheimers, but has not been admitted to the nursing home because of it, but rather because of other health complications.
He is NOT of sound mind and cannot sign any estate papers, including a POA.
 
Sorry....I went out of town. He has already signed the Qualified Income Trust paperwork that the nursing home provided her so that he can qualify for medicaid nursing care (otherwise he can't afford nursing care at all). My friend has not yet had him sign the POA, though. Should I tell her she can't because he is not considered competent? What are her other options? Does she need to seek guardianship through the courts? Can his doctors determine whether he is competent enough to sign a POA?
 

BlondiePB

Senior Member
My friend has not yet had him sign the POA, though. Should I tell her she can't because he is not considered competent?
Correct.
Does she need to seek guardianship through the courts?
Yes.
Can his doctors determine whether he is competent enough to sign a POA?
He is not competent. The court will have independent evaluations in addition to reviewing his medical records.
 

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