Elder Law Answers
Does a Wife's Separate Property Count Toward a Medicaid Applicant's Assets?
In spending down assets to qualify for Medicaid, are investments that are the “separate property” of a wife fr...
Read moreMust a Medicaid Applicant's Earlier Gifts of Savings Bonds Be Returned?
- October 31st, 2014
Q
My mother-in-law gave $10,000 in savings bonds to each of her children in 2010. She is now confined to a nursing home and is being told the money given for the savings bonds needs to be returned into her account to be used for her care. Does that money need to be returned or can the recipients keep the money?
A
Typically, the transfer of assets causes ineligibility for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care for up to five years after the gift. The return of the transferred funds in effect “cures” the gift and eliminates the period of ineligibility. However, then your mother-in-law will have money that will have to be spent down on her care before she will be eligible for Medicaid. These are the main rules.
However, there are exceptions – such as transfers to children with disabilities and transfers for purposes other than to qualify for Medicaid – and calculations that may reduce the amount that needs to be returned. For instance, if the gifts were made early in 2010, the family members may only need to return enough to pay for care until five years after the date of the gifts. I strongly recommend that the family consult with a local elder law attorney to determine the best strategy in your situation.
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Ashburn, VA
Meet Evan Farr
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Evan Farr
Farr Law Firm
In practice since 1987, Fairfax Attorney Evan Farr is widely recognized as one of the leading Elder Law, Estate Planning, and Specials Needs attorneys in Virginia and one of foremost experts in the Country in the field of Medicaid Asset Protection and related Trusts. Evan Farr has been quoted or cited as an expert by n...
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Meet William Fralin
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William Fralin
The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm PC
Bill founded The Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm, P.C. in 1994. Bill limits his practice to the areas of estate planning and administration, incapacity planning, Medicaid, asset protection planning, and elder law. He is one of (15) fifteen attorneys practicing in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, ce...
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Meet Jean Ball
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Jean Ball
Hale Ball Carlson Baumgartner Murphy PLC
Jean Galloway Ball is certified in Elder Law by the National Elder Law Foundation. She is a 1977 honors graduate of the National Law Center, George Washington University, and she did her undergraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1971. She is admitted to practice in Vir...
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