Legal Question in Elder Law in Massachusetts

Re: protecting assets from a nursing home

MassHealth treats funds held in a joint bank account as an available asset unless you can actually PROVE that you contributed some of those funds to her care. Failure to disclose assets on the application is considered to be fraud. The agency has the ability to check for 1099s and other documents filed with the IRS.

There may still be a legal option or two available for protecting some of those funds. Please feel free to schedule a consultation with me if you wish to discuss the matter further.

Re: protecting assets from a nursing home

First, the question is how long has your name been on the account.

Second question is did you contribute to any of those savings?

Third if your name has been on the account was their an intent to make a gift to you? If so how much was the gift and did you file a gift tax return if it was more than $12,000.00.

You need to disclose the account, but you can use the funds in certain ways for the benefit of your mother, such as paying for her funeral in advance.

Please feel free to contact me to set-up an appointment.