If my grandmother has a small amount of assets, can she give them away without affecting her Medicare and other state medical fundings?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If my grandmother has a small amount of assets, can she give them away without affecting her Medicare and other state medical fundings?
She has maybe $15k in cd’s for her grandkids.
Asked on November 25, 2012 under Estate Planning, Connecticut
Answers:
Victor Waid / Law Office of Victor Waid
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
I believe you have annual reporting requiremernts as far as the state medical funding. I suggest you go to medical website to determine what she can accumulate in assets without any changes occuring to her medical funding. If those CDs are in her grandchildren's name, then they maybe excluded in determining her asset allocation as far as medical funding is concerned.
Catherine Blackburn / Blackburn Law Firm
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Medicare is not dependent on your grandmother's assets, but MediCAID IS dependent on her assets. Some of the "means testing" for MediCAID is controlled by federal law and some is controlled by state law.
Your grandmother should NOT give any assets away without speaking with a qualified elder law attorney in her state. Federal Medicaid laws require every state to "look back" FIVE YEARS for any gifts. If there are gifts within those 5 years, the state may deny Medicaid benefits for long term care benefits.
Elder law attorneys can help seniors preserve assets for their needs and still qualify for Medicaid. These attorneys can also help seniors qualify for Medicaid even if they made gifts in the past 5 years. This area of the law is complicated, and I do not recommend that anyone try to figure it out without qualified help. The important thing to know is - do nothing without the advice of an elder law attorney.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.