When my uncle died, my aunt was suddenly in bankruptcy. She was going to get kicked out of her house, so I bought the house with the intent of renting it back to her (she had a pension that could support her modest lifestyle with both of us paying some toward the mortgage). But as often happens, when one of a pair goes, the other gets affected. She was able to manage on her own for a year or two, but got dementia and started blaming our family members that visited her for any problems.
She quit paying rent, which was fine, but soon after the neighbors reported a problem, and social services started casting around for family thieves (there were none). As landlord, I was informed that they would take all her assets and she would be moved to a state facility. They cleaned out the house of every last thing, but I made sure they knew I owned the refrigerator and laundry equipment, or they probably would have made off with that too. This all took place in Florida, and I was remote. Family kept visiting at the facility, and she apparently was happy enough there, but eventually forgot who family was.
I guess the point here with this example is that, depending on where you live, there's probably a safety net. They take all your possessions and give you a place to stay. In my aunt's case, the furniture and maybe some coins or collectibles were the only assets, but other inductees might have liquid assets too, and maybe that makes the program less of a taxpayer burden.
kcra.com
