3.3 Divestment

DHA Case No. MDV 199858 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals December 4, 2020) (DHS) ↓ Download PDF Divestment is a transfer of non-exempt resources for less than fair market value. This case involved two potential divestments when the petitioner’s house was sold to her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend: (1) the boyfriend was paid $40,534.37 […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 200210 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals January 21, 2021) (DHS) ↓ Download PDF An appeal must be filed within 45 days of an agency action for the ALJ to have jurisdiction to review it. In this case, the petitioner established an irrevocable trust, divested, and applied for Medicaid in May […] Read more

DHA Case No. MGE 200475 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals February 8, 2021) (DHS) ↓ Download PDF Eligibility for MA begins the first of the month in which the applicant meets all program requirements. In this case, the petitioner planned for a divestment penalty with a Medicaid-compliant annuity, but the final annuity payment occurred […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 201093 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals March 8, 2021) (DHS) ↓ Download PDF Using an inheritance to buy personal property for fair market value is not a divestment, but the purchases must be verified. In this case, the petitioner inherited $9,633 and claimed to have spent it on a desk, […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 204093 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals March 24, 2022) (DHS) ↓ Download PDF A divestment penalty does not start until the date a Community Waivers applicant requests a waiver program, meets the functional screen criteria, and meets all other Medicaid eligibility requirements. In this case, the petitioner—represented by a lawyer—divested […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 206205 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals December 2, 2022) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF Issue 1: “Irrevocable assignment” The Medicaid Eligibility Handbook provides that an asset is available when the owner can dispose of it, has a legal right to its value, has the legal ability to make it available, and can make […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV-45/86382 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals November 19, 2007) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF Issue 1: Caretaker child The caretaker child exception allows an institutionalized person to transfer homestead property to a child who lived with the person and provided care for at least two years. In this case, the petitioner co-owned […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV-37/88496 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals May 16, 2008) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF Promissory notes are commonly used to reduce countable resources for Medicaid eligibility. The rules require the note to have a repayment term within the applicant’s life expectancy, require equal payments with no balloon payment, prohibit cancellation of the […] Read more

DHA Case No. MGE 117071 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals Jul. 26, 2011) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF This case is one example of a marital property agreement avoiding the potential divestment when a community spouse (1) dies, (2) leaves property to someone other than the institutionalized spouse, and (3) the institutionalized spouse fails to […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 144813 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals Jan. 18, 2013) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF The petitioner in this case spent $195,000 on life-insurance-funded burial contracts (LIFBCs) to become eligible for Medicaid. She bought 13 of them, all for her children and their spouses, at a cost of $15,000 each. The agency […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 146580 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals April 23, 2013) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF In this divestment case, the petitioner divested $85,000 to relatives. Those same relatives afterward paid about $89,000 for the petitioner’s nursing home care. Despite this, the agency found only a partial cure, arguing that only the payments […] Read more

DHA Case No. MGE 170367 (Wis. Div. of Hearings and Appeals March 2, 2016) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF This decision discussed two issues at some length. First, whether payments to the petitioner’s daughter were divestments; and second, whether the petitioner’s former home, now rented at fair market value, was countable. On the first issue, the […] Read more

DHA Case No. MDV 195771 (Wis. Div. Hearings and Appeals January 9, 2020) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF In this case, the petitioner’s son bought her multi-family residential property, which had also been her home. A bank evaluation estimated the property’s fair market value at $225,000, and the tax assessment bill estimated it at $236,500. The […] Read more

DHA Case No. MED 67/53178 (Wis. Div. Hearings and Appeals Feb. 28, 2003) (DHS)  ↓ Download PDF In this case, a Medicaid recipient failed to report a divestment that occurred after her initial application was approved and benefits had started. The ALJ held that, despite the failure to report, the overpayment of benefits was not […] Read more