My older sister purchased my elderly parents' home and they now live with her. does her high income affect my parents' benefits? My parents pay for all utilities and receive food stamps. My concern is that my sister is not reporting things accurately.
How was the food stamp application filled out? It must show all the people living in the house and their incomes. Probably the same with Medicaid. My nephews renewal is for a single person.
Just my opinion, but when sister bought parents house that gave them added income which they can use towards health insurance and and food. From what I remember, in a household all living there have to be on Food Stamps. I say this because my nephew would get paperwork concerning him applying but because he lived with Mom, she too would need to apply.
You would need to know how paperwork was done.
The benefits I would be most concerned about is their ability to utilize Medicaid for facility care should the time come that they need to.
When did your sister buy their home? What happened to that money? Thats what Medicaid will want to know. If they filled out the paperwork honestly for food stamps then something might be wrong about what they sold the house for. It has to have been FMV. Or perhaps happened a long time ago and they have spent the money?
We here on the forum wouldn’t know the circumstances and it can be complicated.
It is a good idea for them to go to a certified elder attorney to make sure they have their finances in order for their (and your) future peace of mind.
Sister may be earning every penny of whatever advantage she may have received on the housing transaction but that won’t matter to Medicaid if the paperwork isn’t correct.
If you are asking about Medicaid in the future for Longterm care, the house may cause a problem. Not because they sold it but how much did they sell it for. If Medicaid maybe be needed in the next 5 years, there is a 5 yr look back. If the house was sold within that 5 yr look back, it had to sell at Market Value. Like Mac said, sister would have to own it for 5yrs and one month when parents apply. The profits are placed in an acct for parents needs only. No large gifts going out. Yes the IRS allows 15k a year but Medicaid diesn't.
In your experience is the food stamp qualifications for the couple based on their monthly income and their fixed monthly expenses/allotments and not based on their assets?
There are limits on income and some expenses are considered, depending on the composition of the household, like medical expenses for the elderly. There have been a lot of emergency adjustments to the SNAP (Food Stamp) program due to the pandemic and I am not up to date on what's been going on recently. I suggest people apply if they feel they need help. If you don't qualify, ok, but at least you'll know.