Information Everyone
Should Know
Do you own your home? Do
you own it but also carry a mortgage?
Do you hope to leave your family home to
a family member someday?
Do you now pay for medical
insurance? Have you ALWAYS paid for
medical insurance? If you answered yes
to that question this information may
not pertain to you.
However if you now own a
home, or own one with a mortgage and
have some equity, or own a business, and
DO NOT pay for medical insurance, this
is vital information to know and
research about, in your own State.
People get jobs, buy medical
insurance, and buy homes. Life changes
may happen, jobs may be lost, but they
still maintain that mortgage payment.
Even if some have to collect Social
Security before retirement age, most try
to maintain that mortgage payment and
keep the family homestead.
Now, If they are collecting
Social Security benefits before
retirement age, they may be on their
State's D.H.H.S. Medical Program to help
with Dr. visits and hospital visits. Of
course we are "Forced" to have
insurance. Many join their State Medical
Program to show they have insurance and
to avoid that fine on their taxes each
year for not having insurance. But no
matter how difficult their lives may be,
they still make their mortgage payments.
So why does this matter? I
have a friend, who's been with my sister
for 19 years. He is a self contractor
who installs carpets. I mention this
only because he filed taxes each year as
a carpet installer. They were never
married. He has a daughter that lived
with them both for many of those years
and is now in her early thirty's. Last
year they helped her buy a house. Now he
was working but hurting so he had to
collect Maine Care while he worked. So
when they went to help her get the
house, he kept that Estate Recovery
Agreement in the Maine Care Manual in
his mind. He made sure he had nothing to
do with the house... signature wise. I
checked the deed and the mortgage
paperwork.
I have to hand it to him, he
knew to do that for his daughter. They
all moved into the new home and within a
year he started having serious medical
issues. He ended up needing a pacemaker.
So that was done. Then covid hit.
He was considered "high
risk" his Dr. told him and scheduled him
an appointment for the vaccine shot. I
drove up to see them both to show them
why they should not take the vaccine but
his Dr. knew better than my proof. They
both took the first shot. I went back up
and tried again that very morning of
their second appointment. He went anyway
and took my sister with him. I have his
vaccination card and his death
certificate. He died 30 days after the
second Pfizer Shot of Myocardial
Infraction, heart disease.
So while I'm going through
bills for Probate Court, his daughter
gets a claim in for $386,051.93
dollars from the State for Maine. This
bill was the full amount that Mainecare
had paid out for Walter's many
surgeries, while on Mainecare. That is
not a misprint! Close to Four Hundred
Thousand Dollars.
Why would they send that? I
believe they think he owned a Carpet
Business, which he did not. It was just
him and my sister. However, even if he
didn't own a business... If he had owned
a home, this would still be in play.
I have an ex-wife who's
brother was in a bad accident. He took
his very large settlement and paid for
his house. When he passed away he left
the house to his sister. She has
$3,000.00 a year in taxes to pay. The
house is all paid for. However, she is
also on Social Security and has been on
Maine Care for years. She has been in
and out of the hospital for years. With
the cost of hospital visits I can
imagine how much she may owe Mainecare.
I'm thinking enough to take her home.
She is still alive and on Mainecare for
her COPD and breathing issues. So who
really owns her house?
She thought she'd leave it
to her grand children. She will, we'll
fix that. But her issue is easy. All
paid for home. Put another name on the
deed, take yours off as soon as you can.
Our manual asks "Have you given away
anything in the past three months".
However, In Maine There Is A FIVE
YEAR LOOK BACK. I am
assuming anything you may do has to be
done at least five years before you pass
on, so time is important.
I have helped several family
members and friends with Probate court
after a loved one has passed. I have
learned a lot, but never enough. To be
honest every case was different and this
is the first time I have heard of the
State sending a bill to the person
taking care of the will. I wondered why.
My mother knew. She was in
Housing, Mainecare and Social Security
but gave us whatever items each of us
wanted, two years before she passed. She
had no will. She knew of that Estate
clause. It said they could lock us out
until inventory was taken. She was on
housing so perhaps they could. That was
probably in case she collected Picasso's
I told her. That never happened but who
knew? She didn't own anything. They knew
that. No bill was ever sent to us.
My mother-in-law passes. She
was a nurse for many years. She too
ended up on Social Security, Mainecare
and Housing. No bill was ever sent.
No house, no business and
the State Of Maine knew that.
But with Walt, better be
sure he didn't own a business.
If you look at the manual,
You start to think that it was written
to systematically take every homeowner's
property as soon as the person in the
home, who it is willed to or later
purchased by, falls into the Maine Care
scheme.
So please take a look at the
Maine Estate Recovery Manual I have on
these pages. My website pages have JPG's
for the manual pages but you can print
off a copy in PDF form if you'd like.
The Link will be on each page.
If your not from Maine, I
would bet your own State's Estate
Recovery Manual is not much different. I
would check and ask for a copy.
I wish I knew how to show
you how to save your homes. I guess a
real estate Attorney might know.
If you own it you should be
able to replace the name on the deed.
Remember to let the family members know
how to keep their home and pass it down,
in case Social Security happens early in
life for them.
I did help a friend who had
a brother and mother, living in the same
home. When she died I asked him how his
bother got the house. He told me she had
him put on the deed. When she passed, he
automatically owned the house. However,
he was a vet and had medical insurance
through the VA. When he passed
away, I learned a bit more.
For example: He had taken a
loan out from his Credit Union to
remodel the bathroom. He was in a wheel
chair now and needed that done. So that
was done and a loan amount was owed. His
younger brother stopped in to let the
Credit Union know his brother had passed
away.
Imagine their surprise when
they found out later, the Credit Union
took all their loan money from his
checking account that very day, leaving
nothing in his account! So I guess that
can happen. Do not notify the Bank or
Credit Union until your ready to make
decisions on any money in the accounts.
Probate Costs. Here in Maine
they are 10% of the total amount you put
down that the deceased has left behind.
They asked if his brother owned a house,
we said yes. The cost of the probate
filing was thousands of dollars. I spoke
up and said, "wait a minute.. the bank
really owns it." There is no equity
left. That helped. We came up with a
couple of thousand in equity, which cost
hundreds instead of thousands to file in
Probate Court. Was that a win? Not
Really. He had to pay from his own
pocket due to having no money in his
brother's Credit Union Account.
So his poor brother had to
wait until the house was sold before
they could afford to place him in the
ground. He sold the house. Think he made
$6,000.00 off the sale, which was used
to take care of his brothers remains.
Never asked why the VA didn't step in.
It was a learning
experience.
Please Share This Information With Your
Family Members and Friends.
Click To See Maine's
Estate Recovery Manual
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