If your aunt doesn’t need to apply for Medicaid benefits until more than five years after the gift, it doesn’t need to be reported. However, if she does need Medicaid-covered care before then you will have to establish that the payment was in exchange for the lodging and care you are providing. It is best that this be reflected in a written contract between you and your aunt, which should be drawn up by a local elder law attorney who knows the practices in your state.
For more on caregiving contracts, click here.
For more on Medicaid's asset transfer rules, click here.
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