The Listen to Lawrence Letter: Timing is Everything – the 5 year lookback

CLIENT QUESTION:

Hello,

Does the five-year look-back end on the exact day? Mom transferred $100,000 to my brother on 18 June 2019. Does the look-back for the $100,000 end on 18 June 2024? Must the $100,00 be repaid if discovered on 22 June 2024?

MY RESPONSE:

The real question is when does the five-year look-back period start and end? The answer is it starts the first day of the next month after the transfer and ends five years later. Therefore, your mother’s five-year look-back would start on July 1, 2019, and end on June 30, 2024. If Mom applied for Medicaid on June 22 (or for that matter any time before July 1, 2024), then she would

be assessed a penalty for the $100,000 transfer. This would be a bad idea! Therefore, do not apply for Medicaid until July 1, 2024, when the June 18, 2019 transfer would be beyond the look-back.

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