Legal Question in Elder Law in New York

Life Estate�Not Worth Having?

My father has a life estate in the

home that my brother and I now

own and that I continue to live in

along with my father. Is it true that if

my father should enter a health care

facility with the aid of medicare or

medicaid, because of the life estate,

our home could be financially tapped

into or even rented in-spite of the

fact that I have lived there all of my

life and am responsible for all

expenses and upkeep?

My accountant has advised me to

remove the life estate and as a result

loose my father�s tax exemptions. My

lawyer says that we are well beyond

the five year grace period and are

completely safe. My cousin just

settled a similar scenario so I know

the solution isn't so simple.


Asked on 4/01/08, 2:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Bryan Richard Bryan Attorney PC

Re: Life Estate�Not Worth Having?

Your attorney is right.

And so are you, which means these cases can be very tricky; there are a lot of places to go wrong when it comes to Medicaid eligibility and recovery etc. There are more issues here than you've touched on. Pay for a couple of hours of consultation with an experienced attorney and it will be well worth your time and money; without a doubt. There's too much at stake for your family.

Good luck.

Rick Bryan

New York, NY

Read more
Answered on 4/02/08, 11:36 am


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