Q: My mom will receive $75k from inheritance. She is on Medicaid in long term care. Can we set up a MAPT now for her?
My grandparents trust from their home. Mom has Been in long term care for 2 years. In 2017, trust attorney said she could put her inheritance in a trust when time comes as mom is on Medicaid. She asked me who would administer, I specified my brother. Now we are being told they are cutting a check to the nursing home in the next few months. Trust is in Indiana. Long term care facility is in IL. There wouldn't be a Medicaid look back period if she's already established, right? My grandparents set up the trust so that the state wouldn't get the money and it would go to family.
A: This is a complicated area of law with lots of moving parts and not suitable for a general forum like this. That said, a transfer to a Medicaid asset protection trust would create a penalty period. It is entirely possible that the previous attorney was referring to a different type of trust. Whether a different type of trust would work in this situation depends in part on your mother’s age and other factors. You really should contact an experienced Elder law attorney for advice on this. The potential solutions are numerous.
A: The trust you appear to be referencing is not a MAPT, but rather a special needs trust. This can either be a first party special needs trust or a third party special needs trust depending on where the funds are coming from. If your grandparents established a third party special needs trust for your mother and that is where her inheritance is, then provided it is set up correctly it should not jeopardize her Medicaid benefits. However, this is a very complicated area of law and it is best to have an attorney familiar with Medicaid and estate planning review the documents in place to determine the impact of the inheritance on your mother's benefits.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
