Moms Estate

[LouLou212]

Mom died 5 years ago in a nursing home.She was on medicare.We recently found some old savings bonds that she had with her husband as beneficiary(also deceased).Must we turn these bonds in or is the family entitled to them?

 

[ALawyer]

If your Mom was on MediCARE, no problem, as that is essentially a very low cost insurance program for medical and hospital bills.
But MediCARE does not pay for long term nursing home stays.

MedicAID, a type of welfare program, does pay for nursing homes of perople without assets to pay for the costs themselves. To the extent MedicAID has made payment, it (actually your state's MedicAid office) is legally entitled to the assets of the deceased (with certain very limited exclusions), as to the extent that a patient had assets (above a small threshold) he or she would be obliged to use them for his or her own care BEFORE MedicAID / welfare would pay for them.

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To retain a lawyer, I suggest you go to http://AttorneyPages.com which is endorsed by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. This response is intended as general information only and NOT LEGAL ADVICE. As you are not my client I have no obligation of any kind to you.

 

[advisor10]

Old Savings Bonds

11-13-2000


DEAR LOULOU:

The most important thing to find out is: did your mother have a will, and did your father have a will? If your father had a will, you are supposed to let the executor of his estate know about the bonds so that he/she can cash them in and distribute them according to how his will was written.

If your father did NOT have a will and your mother DID have one, then HER estate executor is responsible for cashing them in. If your MOTHER did not have a will, then you can cash them in, but to find out how much they are worth, you will need to write to:

BUREAU OF PUBLIC DEBT
P. O. BOX 1328
PARKERSBURG, WV 26106-1328

In your letter, you will need to mention the serial numbers, and must provide a copy of the death certificate of both parents (since the information is confidential), in order to prove that you are the rightful person who is eligible to receive that information.

Any other questions you have about savings bonds can be answered by visiting the government website at "www.publicdebt.treas.gov".

I'm not an attorney, but as an accountant have come across similar situations like yours. Good luck!

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