Go to Jeff Salisbury LWGate Home Page.From: "Nelson E. Timken, Esq." <netimken@erols.com>
Subject: RE: Medi-Cal clock
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 13:32:01 -0400
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My recommendation here is to speak to an ELDER LAW/ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY in your area as soon as possible. If you try to get "hearsay" information such as that which is listed below, you will be steered WRONG. I preface what I am about to say by telling you that you should not rely on it. I am not an estate/elder law attorney. I am an attorney and a guardian to my incapacitated mother. I do therefore have some practical knowledge. With court permission, we were able to transfer one of her assets before the federal fraud statute took effect. The three year period runs from the date of transfer. In my opinion, it is not unlawful per se to transfer assets of an elderly person. If the elderly person is not currently incapacitated and receiving Medicaid (not welfare!) then I do not believe that there will be a problem, so long as the person does not become incapacitated or seek Medicaid within the look back period, which is currently 36 months. A person has a right to transfer assets, otherwise none of us could ever conduct any estate planning whatsoever. However, two things must be kept in mind. By transferring them to a joint tenancy situation, the elderly person still has a 1/2 interest in the asset. Therefore, Medicaid can enforce a lien against that portion. When the asset is sold, Medicaid can come after 1/2 of the proceeds. What many elderly people do is to transfer the asset outright, such as a house, and the lawyer sets up a life interest for them which gives them the right to live in the asset (house) until they die. This prevents the children from throwing them out following the transfer. There are many devices that can be used legally. Speak to an attorney. Otherwise you will get advice which tells you basically, that you have no options, which is clearly not the case. Regards, Nelson http://onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/investing-list - -----Original Message----- From: owner-persfin@lists.xmission.com [mailto:owner-persfin@lists.xmission.com]On Behalf Of MsProf2U@aol.com Sent: Friday, July 03, 1998 12:29 PM To: persfin@lists.xmission.com Subject: Re: Medi-Cal clock <<My 87 year old father lives with me. I am his only child....We recently purchased a house jointly in which we reside.... 1. When we transferred all of my father's funds in to joint checking and investment accounts, does this start the Medi-Cal clock ticking on the 3 year period re gift transfers? If so, since it is a joint account, do all, or only 1/2, of the funds qualify as a gift? Do I need a letter from my father indicating that it is a gift? Would it be better to remove his name entirely from the accounts? 2. We recently purchased a house that we own as joint tennants. A non-specialist attorney I spoke to indicated that there was some case law that set a precedent such that if the son/daughter of the Medi-Cal recipient is living in the recipient's house, the government would not force the sale of the house to recover Medi-Cal long term care costs. I'm not sure how joint tennancy would affect this, or if the child must be a minor....>> I suggest you talk to a specialist lawyer. There are real strict requirements now to spend down one's money before receiving welfare. Holding $200K jointly with a family member doesn't qualify as having spent money down, as it is still accessible to the would-be welfare recipient. Furthermore, only $10K year can be transferred without incurring gift taxes. Transferring (basically, "hiding") assets in entirety to receive welfare is fraud, with commensurate penalties. Be careful! - - - -
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