Legal Question in Elder Law in Washington

Re: assets exempt from medicaid

I am deeply troubled by your question.

Essentially what you propose is that in the event that you require more care than you have assets to pay for in your declining years, that you and your wife should be able to have a home AND have the taxpayers fund whatever care you require in your advanced age.

Sir, I find that a request for assistance with fraud.

If you can find an ethical competent licensed attorney who can ethically answer your question, likely they will wish to be paid for their advice. Part of your payment goes to cover that attorney's errors and ommission policy, which you had better hope will cover the result of the advice you are seeking.

Re: assets exempt from medicaid

As you can see from the prior response of a competent attorney, not all attorneys consider medicaid "planning" an ethical indeavour. In addition, laws exist, at least on paper, that restrict advice concerning such planning.

Having said that, an answer to your question is in no way assistance with fraud. It is merely an answer to an question concerning existing law and in many ways is no different than representative a criminal defendant that you otherwise believe is guilty but in which you are attempting to get a reduction in time served. And I am quick to remind you that my answer merely concerns existing law as this area of elder law is CONSTANTLY in a state of flux.

A home is an exempt asset. Liquid assets are, for the most part, not exempt assets. Theoretically, one could take non-exempt assets and purchase an exempt asset, thereby qualifying the person for Medicaid.

With respect to a married couple, a lien is placed against the recipient spouse's estate in order to collect for past Medicaid contributions towards healthcare. Anything that is not in the recipient spouse's estate, including real property that is only in the name of the nonrecipient spouse, is not included in the lien procedure. HOWEVER, THERE ARE MANY UNFORSEEN ISSUES THAT MAY ARISE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NOT KNOWING WHO THE RECIPIENT SPOUSE IS, CHANGES IN THE LAW, IMPROPER TRANSFERS, ETC. I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU CONSULT WITH A QUALIFIED ELDER LAW ATTORNEY TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS.