Caution! Assets in a guardianship account impact Medicaid and DDD eligibility
When a minor who has disabilities reaches age 18 and is incapacitated, their parent or custodian will typically file for Guardianship. In some cases, the minor has assets under Court control that are held in a guardianship court account through the county Surrogate. These might be assets that were received through a prior personal injury lawsuit award or settlement, or assets that the minor...
Medicaid estate recovery liens often take people by surprise
On March 24th, PBS news hour had a segment called “The Medicaid Bill that doesn’t go away when you die.” www.pbs.org. The program described the impact of estate recovery liens which are pursued by State Medicaid Programs. Estate recovery is required by federal law in 42 USC 1396p. The New Jersey lien statute is at N.J.S.A. 30:4D-7.2(a)(2). The lien is imposed after death...
NJ bill exempts reparations from estate recovery
Under federal and state Medicaid law, German reparations payments for Holocaust survivors are exempted from being counted as either “income” or a “resource.” Ideally, the Medicaid applicant has escrowed the reparations in a separately identifiable account, but this is by no means a requirement. By being exempt, these payments (1) are not counted when determining if a...