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As Personal Representative for my Mom's Estate, I had our family attorney (who was handling the Estate's legal matters) send a letter to the nursing home requesting financial information so that I could pay any outstanding balances and requesting that any remaining money from Mom's business account or Trust Fund be paid to Mom's Estate.

The Trust Fund at the nursing home that Mom stayed at was a "Savings Account" that Mom could use to pay the beautician or when she went to eat at local restaurants with other residents as an activity coordinated by the nursing home's Activity Department.
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Sofia omg you are so right about the “trust fund” name confusion. There have been lots of posts on this site on DPOA totally unaware of the trust $ set aside....

In my experience this is how it works: NH can set up a personal needs allowance (PNA) account for a resident to draw from to use to pay directly for items not covered under their room & board. The main use in my experience is exactly as DeAnna posted.... is beauty or barber shop visits done on site at the NH, so payment is deducted by NH billing from each individuals PNA & paid to beautician / barber. A PNA can be open whether or not they are on Medicaid or are private pay.

If the resident is on Medicaid, it is technically - as required by feds -to be an account held “in Trust” for the resident and requires some nominal interest be paid and a statement sent to DPOA on the account every 90 days AND spent only on items for their direct benefit.

It is NOT, again NOT, what we usually think of as a Trust Fund, or Special Needs Trust, or other Trust or Estate planning legal document.

The PNA “trust fund / account” is more like a dedicated savings account held at the NH imo.

If they are on Medicaid & have their monthly income (lSS $) going to the NH as payeee, there will be a fixed PNA amount deposited into the PNA. Like for TX it’s $60 a mo PNA that gets diverted from their SS to go into the fund and not part of the required by Medicaid copay to the NH. So every mo the PNA builds by $60; $720 a yr if not spent.

what I found in NH comparisons was that often NH will charge for phone or cable & this fee will be magically! the monthly PNA that your states Medicaid has set. Or have automatic twice a mo beauty shoppe visits placed. DPOA may have to sign a waiver for charges NOT to be force placed.

2 years is really long time not to have this settled, my guess would be:
- $ was spent, either on preset beauty shop, cable. Look at admissions contract to see what’s what. If so, basically each mo ended at zero.
or
- $ spent as they were on Medicaid & they were getting close to the max asset limit (usually 2k), so NH does a bigger ticket item spend down to keep them ok for Medicaid. Its kinda is on DPOA to pay attention to this but if they don’t, a better NH will get MD to write orders for some sort of specialized item - like a tricked out wheelchair. NH doesn’t want residents Medicaid status jeopardized. $$ gone
- spent on dental emergency. Dental rarely covered under Medicaid or Medicare. $$$ gone.
- no after death payee authorization form filled out. Whomever is designated to be Executor of Estate sends a letter requesting balance of PNA to be paid with a copy of their Letters Testamentary to have check cut in the name of the Estate.
- If it’s 2 years, the $ may have already been turned over to the state Treasurer. You can go online to see if unclaimed funds in the deceased name. My state does this list annually. I think it escheats to state coffers permanently if not claimed after 3 yrs.
- a POD / pay on death authorization form did not list you or Estate but whomever was on the form. They got the $. For my mom, as her DPOA I had one of her old neighbors & a cousin on the PNA authorized to drawn $ from it (they visited often & could buy her toiletries or clothing replacement as needed, turn in receipt & get $). NH sent balance by check 3 mos post death to my cousin as she was listed first. Not considered an asset of the Estate either.

If they died with an outstanding balance, NH might be able to hold $ till bill settled.

Whatever you do, correspondence really should be sent certified mail with the return registered card ASAP. It establishes that it is a defined request. They have to get back to you as to the account balance on DOD (Day of death) and it’s current status. 2 years.... I’m guessing whatever $ left was sent to state Treasurer.
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I would contact the attorney who handled her estate. I am thinking nursing homes do not keep “trusts” nor have anything to do with them.

Others posters will come around with suggestions for you as well.
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SofiaAmirpoor Jun 2019
I work in a nursing home and we are required to open a "trust" account for anyone who asks for it. It is not the same as a Trust Account that protects a persons assets, but it is monies that are deposited by a patient to be used for their personal items as needed. The name is confusing. In my case, I am required to release the money within 30 days after a person is no longer there. 2 years seems to be way too long for them to be holding on to it. The executor of the estate or an attorney needs to contact them right away.
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I had no trouble getting Moms PNA/Trust account. I went to the NH office and showed I was Executor of the Estate. They sent the info to an offsite location and in a couple of weeks I had a check in my name.
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I also, received a statement every quarter showing me how Moms money was used. It had to be used for personal needs. Could not be used by the NH for any other reason. I had to sign off for a "Chinese" night so they could use her PNA for her take out dinner.
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