Legal Question in Elder Law in Massachusetts

You and your mother will want to sit down with an experienced elder law attorney and someone who is well-versed in medicaid, before any property is transferred. A transfer within 5 years of applying for medicaid can disqualify your mother from medicaid eligibility and place her property and assets at risk. If you would like to consult with an experienced elder law/medicaid estate planning attorney, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 617-357-4898. I wish you and your mother all the best.

MassHealth will refuse to provide anyone for long-term care benefits for a period of five years from the month in which a gift was made to anyone other than a limited class of recipients (generally speaking, spouses and disabled or minor children or qualifying trusts for the benefit of disabled children). A court recently ruled that if a child refuses to give the money back, MassHealth would not have to help unless the parent showed that they made a real effort to get the money returned -- like filing a law suit.

As I've told my clients for over a decade, your mother should not make ANY gifts without first speaking with an experienced elder law attorney.

To the extent she has not waited five years those gifts are charged against any medicaid coverage for a nursing home and then they charge your mother $284 a day for whatever period that is less than 5 years before medicaid will pay.