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Can assets be transferred by a Spouse after Medicaid Qualification?
by Mark A. Krohn, Partner
Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP
In the event your spouse goes into a long-term care facility and thereafter qualifies for Medicaid,
can you, as the spouse remaining at home, then transfer assets without triggering a loss of
benefits by creating an ineligibility period for your spouse?
The Medicaid rules provide that any transfer made by a Medicaid applicant or spouse within the
look-back period will create an ineligibility period. However, if Medicaid has been granted after
both spouses have fully disclosed all of their resources and gifts made during the applicable
"look-back" period, the law provides that the assets of the spouse-at-home are protected. This is
the logical result since the Medicaid application process has already approved Medicaid, based
upon a review of information submitted about both spouses. If the at-home spouse thereafter
decides to make a transfer of at-home assets, he or she should be able to do so without having to
worry about effecting Medicaid coverage for the spouse in the long-term care facility. Of course,
such transfer will not protect the spouse at-home if he or she herself must move into a long-term
care facility within thirty-six (36) months of having made such transfer. One should always seek
the advice of an advisor who is familiar with the Medicaid rules.
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