re: Mom on Welfare.
The way system now works is - you go into a nursing home and pay until your money runs out. If you try to give your money away to relatives, it has to be done two years before you go into the nursing home or they can claim it. You are allowed enough to bury yourself and a few things like a TV. When the money is gone, Welfare and Medicaid take over the payments. So yeah, after working your whole life and paying taxes you are reduced to the "dole", a real humiliation for some.