My mother and I have a joint CD and a joint savings account (to pay for items when she owned a home...but it's been sold). Now we're in the spend-down phase. I feel that half the amount in the accounts should legally be mine. We've owned the accounts for at least 10 years.
Please explain what you call the spend down phase.
Why was the money put into this joint account? Is it actually Mom's money? I would advise you to contact an elder law attorney with expertise in Medicaid planning.
In my state (Washington), when someone is applying for Medicaid services, the state looks at any money in joint accounts as the applicant's money. They have no way of separating the two--if mom's name is on the account, all the money is considered hers, no matter who put the money in. For example, I was working with a mother and daughter, mother was applying for assistance. They lived together and co-owned the home, and had a joint bank account, into which both women put money. Most of the money was the daughter's, who had a higher income. However, when they applied for assistance, the mother was considered "over resource limits" because of the balance of the joint account. The financial worker at the state has no way of separating whose money is whose--so they recommended the daughter get them separate bank accounts. But she still needed to help mom (who had dementia) with her finances, so she had the bank add her to the mom's account as a POA. This way, their money was now separated but the daughter could have access to mom's money for bill paying & etc.
This was the advice given by the state financial worker with whom we were working, based on my state's rules. It would be best for you to consult with a financial worker in your state and/or an elder law attorney who ****specializes in Medicaid Planning****. Just any elder law attorney won't do- they need to really understand your state's Medicaid rules, otherwise you might wind up wasting money on attorney fees.