| Later transfers into a Medicaid irrevocable trust…read on:
CLIENT QUESTION:
Sir, I hope all is well with you, your family, and the folks at your office. I read all your emails, “Listen to Lawrence Letter” and also pass them on to other folks.
You did our Irrevocable Trust and all other paperwork, Wills, etc. in August of 2021. The home we own (no mortgage) at present is in trust. We are thinking of buying a condo and do not want to sell the house in the trust until after we move into the condo.
My questions:
1 How do we get the condo into this trust?
2 Can we use funds from the trust to buy this condo, before we sell the house in the trust?
3 Will the condo start a new 5-year look-back?
Thank you for all your advice.
MY RESPONSE:
Simple answer: A new condo could be placed into the trust by signing a new deed. However, any new assets you transfer into the trust will create a new five-year look-back. IF you should need a nursing home within this new look-back, it MAY taint previous transfers in the same trust whose look-back is over. Therefore, we usually create a second trust to avoid this problem. This will all be true if you transfer the new condo, or money to buy a new condo, into the trust. If you feel that you can get through the next five years without needing Medicaid, then you can proceed to transfer the money or the condo into the original trust.
On the other hand, if you use funds within the trust to purchase the new condo, it would be preferable because you are not making a transfer to the trust at this time. |
