Elective share and Medicaid can lay a trap for the unwary
In New Jersey, a surviving spouse has the right to claim his or her “elective share” of the deceased spouse’s estate if the deceased left him/her an inadequate inheritance. The calculations are made using the step-by-step process of a set of state statutes, N.J.S.A. 3B:8-1. If the individual receives Medicaid benefits and is widowed, failure to claim the “elective...
A disinherited spouse could have a medicaid problem
When a person applies for Medicaid benefits, a five-year look back is done by the county board of social services to see if the applicant had given away any assets that they owned or to which they were entitled. If that occurred, it’s referred to as a “transfer of assets” or “uncompensated transfer of assets,” and the result will be a penalty period in which the...