Legal Question in Elder Law in Massachusetts

Re: living trust

The answer is: it depends. The "look back period" is 60 months for social security, meaning that tehy will impute income and assets to your mother even if she has "given them away." Also, there cannot be an outstanding mortgage on the property if title is being transferred. Your mother should sit down with a law firm that handles estate planning since there is no one size fits all trust that will protect everyone's assets.

Re: living trust

First, assisted living facilities are generally NOT covered by Medicaid, unless the elder has an income level of less than 100% of the federal poverty level and assets below $2K.

The real issue is whether your mother will need to go to a nursing home in the next 60 months. If she does, and if the title to the real estate is transferred to a properly-drafted irrevocable trust to or another person, will there be a sufficient amount of assets and/or long-term care insurance to cover any disqualification period? The answer to your question is very fact-specific -- what works for one elder may or may not work for your mother.

Contact me or another an experienced elder law attorney whose practice focuses on the rapidly shifting area of Medicaid law. You can find a list of elder law attorneys at the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys web site.