John Ciafone | Queens Scene

QueensScene My mother is getting up in years. She has a one family house in Astoria. She is afraid to transfer the property to me because she believes I will put her in a Nursing Home. I understand that for Medicaid purposes, it is beneficial to remove all her assets. What should I do? Medicaid is public health insurance that a beneficiary obtains if he or she has assets less than approximately $3,500.00. Medicaid has a look back period of five years, so to obtain Medicaid, the transfer of the house must occur after five years, otherwise Mom will not qualify. The most popular way of dealing with your issue is to transfer the house into your name and give your mother a life estate in the house. For this to occur, a life estate provision must be written in the deed. A life estate allows your mother the right to live in the house even if you decide to sell it. It comforts your mother in knowing that a Nursing Home is not necessary since she has rights to stay in the house. Unfortunately, in September 2011, Congress decided to treat the once exempt “life estate” as “property” within the confines of Medicaid rules. So, if Mom has a life estate, Medicaid will either reject her application for benefits or accept her but place a lien on the property. If Medicaid accepts mom and places a lien on the property, when the house is sold, Medicaid will get a portion of the value determined for the life estate from the proceeds of the sale. This recent change in the law has caused havoc in the elder law world as years and years of life estate transfers, which were pre-viously exempt from Medicaid, can now be subject to collection from the Estates. Expect constitutional challenges on this revision of the law. “ON THE LAW” with JOHN J. CIAFONE, Esq. Attorney & Counselor at Law 25-59 Steinway St./Suite 2F, Astoria (718) 278-3900 SERVING THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY 24 HOURS/7 DAYS If you have any questions; please Call: John J. Ciafone, Esq. Question: Answer: June 2017 Page 29 <pagedata>28:0.0653661638:0.923350692:0.943573236:0.0862326324</pagedata>