In this fifth of a six part series on the Medicaid Look-Back Rule and Transfer Penalties, Wes Coulson discusses Gifts and the Five-Year Look Back and answers the question: If you’ve made gifts within five years, do you have to wait out the five years before applying for Medicaid? The answer may surprise you.
Gifts and the Five-Year Look Back
Transcript:
This is the fifth in our six-part series on Medicaid Look-Back Rule and Transfers.
Today we’re going to address the question if you’ve made gifts within five years, do you have to wait out the five years before you apply for Medicaid? The answer is not only no, but in most cases it’s not necessarily a wise thing to do that. If you’ve made gifts that would cause a ten month penalty, and if you’ve done those two years ago, what you really want to do to is to apply now to have that penalty start. If it starts now, it will end 10 months from now, and then Medicaid eligibility will start, whereas if you wait out the five years, you are waiting much longer before you can become eligible.
In the final part of our series, we’ll talk about a strategy you could use to really get some benefit out of that.
For the complete Medicaid Look Back Rule and Transfer Penalties series, visit these articles:
- Will routine gifts cause a Medicaid Transfer Penalty?
- Withdrawals from Joint Accounts: Are they subject to transfer penalties?
- Will transferring assets between spouses cause a Medicaid Transfer Penalty?
- Look-Back Rule and Delay in Eligibility
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (877)995-6876 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
