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Originally Posted by Bizdoc
Sit down with a list of your mother's bank accounts, investments, and insurance policies. Contact each and every one and verify beneficiaries and joint owners - we found out the hard way that AIG had lost my dad's original life insurance application and thus had no record of beneficiaries! (Fortunately, he was an accountant and had kept a copy all of these years!)
If your mother is up to it, take her around to her banks, etc and have her tell a *bank officer* that you are her power of attorney (hand the bank officer a copy of that POA) and (if true) beneficiary and suggest that they put a note in her account file stating that. It will save a lot of footwork later if there are questions. Make sure that you have access to any and all safe deposit boxes. Don't store important legal documents in her assisted living apartment if you can help it. Ideally, every bank account should have a joint owner and or Payable on Death person so that it doesn't have to go thru probate.
Have her call Social Security, health insurance companies and the life and medical insurance companies and have her tell them that they can discuss your account with them. Ask the nice SocSecurity person to make a note in her online file. Make sure that you have a medical POA and a HIPPA release.
Consider having your mother set up a revocable trust with you as the successor trustee. You can fund it by setting up a bank account and putting a small amount in. It will save lots of problems later on as the trust survives beyond her life and or competency. Also note that you can put everything in the trust if it become necessary to qualify your mother for Medicaid or other programs. Much easier to do while she can actually execute the trust.
We used Amy Reed Pitman and thought that she was great. However, you may have problems getting in fast. If so, try Samantha Rauba in Ocala - she's handled several thing for my (demented) mother and she understands that some things are urgent.
Oh yes. I'm not an attorney and can't hand out legal advice. I can only tell you about my experiences with my parents and the lessons learned.
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I agree with everything you posted, however we were advised (by our long-time family attorney in Mass.) that to get assets out of our control for Medicaid purposes, the assets would have to be put in an
irrevocable trust for 5 years before they would no longer be counted as our assets for Medicaid.