Q: Trust owned house
Revocable Trust owns house in with trustees were originally my mother and stepfather. She passed in 2018. He passed in 2021. Successor trustee is me. Can Medicaid take house in estate recovery?
A:
Because the house was held by a REVOCABLE Trust, which could have been changed at any time prior to death of the trust grantors, the house has been subject to that power of disposition by both your dad and mom. For that reason, because of that power, the house is probably included in the estate of your stepdad. Medicaid and the taxing authorities have "reach back" provisions/authority that can go back up to eight years to recapture assets transferred out of a decedent's possession/ownership for less than full value, like, e.g., a gift to a Trust.
Medicaid would make a claim, if they provided pre-death support of your stepdad, against his estate, and because of the foregoing, the house would be considered part of your dad's estate. If there were not other assets to be liquidated in that estate, the court may order the house sold to pay estate debts.
Joshua N. Daly agrees with this answer
A: You will have to take the Trust Agreement to an attorney to review. Much depends on whether your parents were the Grantors of the Trust in addition to being the Trustees, as well as the other assets in the Trust and in your parents' estates.
Joshua N. Daly agrees with this answer
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