Letty and Manny generally get along well, better than many other adult siblings.  But their mother’s recent stroke is making ‘push come to shove’ regarding Ann’s living arrangements and money. 

Ann now needs more help from her children than she’d ever hoped.  Ann wants Manny to help her get her home ready for sale, and she wants to live in a small addition Ann plans to build onto Letty’s house after her own home sells. 

In the long run, Ann’s plan will likely save money both for her to live on and for her children to inherit.  The longer she can live in the addition, the better the savings will be. 

But if she were to die or need full nursing home care less than six months after doing the addition, for example, it might appear to Manny that Ann gave an unfair large gift to Letty by building on the addition she barely got to use. 

So, for the benefit of her kids’ relationship (also for other Medicaid eligibility reasons we will address in later columns), Ann thinks she should try to head off trouble by getting an arrangement down in writing – and then discuss it with her children. 

Appropriate adjustments can be made several ways.  She wants to determine the options – for her estate planning and life care planning purposes. 

To discuss your options for adjusting your plans to respond to your own family’s changes, call our office at (815) 436-1996 to set an appointment.  ©2012 Gruber Law Office, Ltd.