What Kind of Financial Advisor Does My MIL Need?

She definitely needs to talk to someone. I would talk an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning. She needs to be sure that her assets are protected. Is there nursing home insurance? Is she going to pay for it? Or is the state? These are all questions that need to be asked. Also, find out if the house is in both names. Honestly, this probably should have been done a few years ago.

When my mom was diagnosed, my dad knew he had a short window of time to get all their financials in order. Dad had to be sure there would be enough for my mom's care, thank God he purchased nursing home insurance many many years ago! That has been a big help. He pays most. Mom does have hospic but since he has too much money, he has to pay for alot of the care himself. This has been a humbling experience for our whole family. My mom has been in the nursing home for almost 2 years.

I'm sorry your family is going through this. Its a very difficult decision and heart wrenching as well. Be there for you MIL. She might feel guilty afterwards. I hope everyone is on the same page with this. It can cause so much turmoil in a family when you have disagreement. Thankfully, my brother and I are in complete agreement with our Dad. He has taken such beautiful care of our Mom.

People who work in banks are generally not financial advisors. Do they have any savings or investments? My parents had their retirement accounts and other investments set up with a financial advisor through UBS (then Paine Webber). When my father passed away, everything went to my mother, and she gave me power of attorney for her financial and medical matters if she became incapacitated and unable to make decisions for herself. When she had to be in a nursing home for the last 5 months of her life for hospice care, I was able to go to their financial advisor (who is also mine) and get the necessary arrangements made to have the money available to pay for the nursing home out of their savings. You might want to google "certified financial planner" and see what comes up. I don't know if anyone at the bank can advise her if the money isn't there.

I am not exactly sure what kind of advice she is looking for, just going into a nursing home doesn't require a financial adviser. If she is going to try to shelter money she needs an elder law attorney.

An attorney who specializes in advising the elderly because their needs are different and specific compared to say, a young family with young children.

Someone who will help her get wills and advance directives in order, who can help her with maximizing her finances with the possibility of her needing to go into a nursing home at some point as well and so forth.

Does her Husband have long term care insurance?

Sounds like you got some good responses but whatever you do make sure you check the FEES on everything before you start. We have money in different places, and some of them charge $30 per year for fees, per account, and I know that is not the highest around, but I still think it's too much especially nowadays. Just thought I'd throw that out, sometimes we don't think of those things. Good luck.