Denial of Medicaid Benefits based on Income-Only Trust Overturned
A Massachusetts Superior Court has overturned a MassHealth denial of coverage for a nursing home resident who MassHealth found had countable assets available from a trust she had created.
MassHealth who administers the Medicaid program for Massachusetts residents has been aggressively challenging and contesting applications where the applicant was the beneficiary of an Income-Only trust. MassHealth would take the position that assets held in an Income-Only trust are considered available to the applicant to be used on their own care and thus would disqualify them from Medicaid eligibility.
MassHealth will need to be more welcoming of Income-Only trusts
An Income-Only Trust used for Medicaid purposes states that the grantor of the trust shall, as the name indicates, only be entitled to receive income from the trust. If the terms of the trust also state that the grantor shall never be able to receive principal from the trust, the assets in the trust will not be deemed an available resource for the Medicaid applicant. Massachusetts has not followed this rule and denied Medicaid benefits to applicants despite these terms in the trust. With this new decision, MassHealth has been told that it was improper to deny applicants Medicaid benefits of the the basis of Income-Only Trusts.
This decision is welcome news for many estate planners seeking to clarify the role Income-Only trusts play in the estate planning process.
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The usage of Trusts in Estate Planning is a critical component. The rules and terms contained in the trust dictate how various governmental agencies will view the trust. Having a clear understanding as to interpretation of language as to important benefits such as tax treatment, control issues or Medicaid qualification is required. This decision with MassHealth brings clarity to language that prior was in flux.
Want to learn more about Irrevocable Income-Only trusts? Contact our office for a no-cost consultation to see if they fit into your estate plan.
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