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Yup, Guest, that is why I suggested a lawyer.

My brother, on disability, got paid for housecleaning for our mother. He is now doing some caregiving for a person with mobility problems. He keeps his income below the limits for disability. He couldn't work full-time (both for benefit and stamina reasons) but a few hours a week works well.

Getting paid for caregiving also presents some issues regarding employment taxes. (My brother is paid by the county and taxes are withheld.) So ...

See a lawyer!
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Jeanne, the biggest problem in having a care agreement on disability is the possibility that it will invalidate whatever condition you got disability with. You can have a sharing expenses agreement, but again you might make yourself ineligible for Medicaid or reduce amount paid for SSI or SSDI with the expenses being split. Yep, check with a lawyer to prevent any problems.
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Parents can (and should) pay the going rate for room and board and care without that being considered a gift at all. A care agreement should be drawn up to make this clear.

An attorney who specializes in Elder Law can help you set this up in a way that will be most advantageous to your parent and you and sis. For example, should parent pay only for room and board, or should some be considered payment for care. If you accept payment for care, what does that do to SSI benefits? Yes, lawyers are expensive, but making a mistake in this regard could be very costly.
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This is way more complex than we can give you here. If you are on SSI, there are specific rules about money that is received as a gift and how it affects your SSI benefit. SSDI has different but equally complex rules about unearned money that is received and its spend down rules. If you are on Medicaid and receive a gift that is not spent down within a calendar month, it could make you ineligible if your assets go above your state's limits. And if your parent that is gifting does need Medicaid within 5 years (you may not expect it now, but I know from experience that 1 fall or stroke or cancer diagnosis and all planning goes out the window, my mother in law who was living at home 6 months ago and is in skilled nursing facility now is a perfect example). If a parent has money to gift to you and you are on disability, seek out an attorney that is experienced in special needs trusts and elder care/disability law. It would be terrible if a generous thought caused both you and sibling to lose SSI or other benefits.
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My parent is living with me 6 months out of 12 and the other sibling the other 6. This was not a medicaid question. It was the "gift" in question due to taxes. My sibling and I are both on disability.....
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THERE IS NO SAFE AMOUNT TO GIFT ANYONE ELSE IF MEDICAID IS GOING TO BE INVOLVED IN CARE OF A PERSON WITHIN 5 YEARS. The main reason anyone on this site asks this question that I've seen in 7 years of posting is to "keep Medicaid from getting Mom's money".
People confuse the ability to gift money with IRS/federal/state/inheritance tax consequences versus the ability to gift money to someone with Medicaid look-back consequences.
If a person gifts money to children and applies for Medicaid, Medicaid requests five YEARS of bank statements, the award letters for current year's social security/pensions/annuity in payout status, federal and state income tax returns, property tax statements, a list of current medical expenditures and hospital stays with supporting documents from health insurance and prescription management. If there have been checks written, it will show up. If property has been sold or transferred, it will be discovered as state and federal databases all dovetail together. As you have to re-certify eligibility anywhere from every 6 months to every 2 years depending on the state, it's not worth taking the chance. Medicaid gifting causes a transfer penalty. It is calculated by taking the amount that the state would pay for a Medicaid bed per day. Example: Medicaid pays $150 per day for bed. Mom gave you $15,000 gift within the 5 year window. Mom is assessed a $15,000 transfer penalty. This means that Medicaid will NOT pay a dime for Mom's care for 100 (one hundred DAYS). And as a poster elsewhere on the site found out, if you are admitted Medicaid pending and Medicaid is denied due to transfer penalty, the nursing home still wants to be paid. And can evict your parent for non-payment, have the state seek guardianship, and then you will have to explain where the gifted money went and whether you took advantage of a vulnerable senior to fraudulently apply for Medicaid. Check with an elder care attorney in your state experienced with Medicaid. If there is any ability to move money into annuity, or spend down on safe items like funeral etc., the lawyer can help you navigate the waters safely if Mom has enough money to ask the question.
Also, be careful that a person with dementia is not gifting if other siblings are involved or you are the power of attorney for the person. APS takes a dim view of people writing themselves checks from a bank account of a vulnerable elder.
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A parent can give a child (or anyone else) any amount they wish. Above a certain level there will be tax consequences. Any gifts at all within five years before applying for Medicaid will have eligibility consequences.

As CM says, you should be able to find the tax information online. Perhaps the IRS site would be helpful.
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Tax or Medicaid question? Either way, I would expect the relevant organisations to provide exactly the information you're looking for online, on their websites.
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