When someone dies having received Medicaid New York asks that their estate assets be used to repay the program for costs spent. Until earlier this year the only estate recovery was against probate assets, those assets in individual name that required the full probate process through a local Surrogate's Court. With the budget law signed this past April, estate recovery has been expanded to include all assets that pass under a will OR BY INTESTACY and ANY REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN WHICH THE DECEDENT HAS ANY LEGAL TITLE OR INTEREST AT THE TIME OF DEATH.
Major changes are at hand. New emergency regulations were just published in the last two weeks, effective back to September 8, 2011, and an administrative directive was just issued by the Department of Health last week, the state agency that oversees the New York State Medicaid program. Everyone who has engaged in any kind of asset protection planning, those who have even thought about protecting assets and those who are currently on Medicaid (or their agents) should be meeting with skilled elder law attorneys to review those plans and determine what, if anything, needs to happen now. No longer will non-probate assets escape State recovery efforts; joint accounts, life estate interests in deeds (VERY common tool used by unsophisticated attorneys in the past), and annuities are all on the table now. And surviving spouses will simply receive deferred recovery until they pass away. The new regulations and directive leave much open to interpretation and are not to be treated lightly.
We will provide a Long Term Care Assurance Session for all of our clients on one of our VIP Membership Plans, but given the serious nature of these changes in the law we urge other Rochester area families to contact us for a no-obligation Long Term Care Assurance Session. Options for planning still exist, but you need to see an actual elder law attorney, not the general practitioner down the street who dabbles in whatever comes through the door. Please contact our Client Services Director at (585) 244-2170 to schedule your own Assurance Session.
Fantastic post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don't notice this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, you have a huge readers' base already!
Posted by: General Hydroponics System | December 14, 2011 at 11:09 AM
It's a shame that we are in the financial mess we are in with Social Security. People are having to look for alternative ways to secure their retirements. That is a great post, thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Deferred Annuity | December 15, 2011 at 12:52 PM
I couldn't agree more with the post. There are flaws in the system that need to be changed. The expansion of estate recovery just one step among many. Hopefully more good things will come in the future.
Posted by: Long Term Care Plans | December 16, 2011 at 10:40 AM