Both Illinois and Missouri draw the same distinction between what tangible personal property is and what luxury personal property is when it comes to Medicaid eligibility and determining what falls under the set asset limits for each state and what doesn’t. The good news is tangible personal property, or necessary items, is exempt from the asset limit. So, what exactly falls under tangible personal property?
In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Illinois Elder Law attorney, continues with the series What You Can and Can’t Keep with Medicaid and discusses the difference between tangible personal property and luxury personal property, and how Medicaid views each in terms of eligibility.
What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: Tangible Personal Property
Transcript:
Hello, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. This is part of our continuing series on the Medicaid rules relating to what assets you can and cannot keep consistent with eligibility. Our subject today is going to be tangible personal property, things that you can touch, in other words not money and bank accounts and things of that sort.
Illinois and Missouri both draw the same distinction between what we would call necessary items (household goods, normal furniture, furnishings, clothes, shoes, and things like that) and what each state considers luxury personal property. You can keep the former, the latter is subject to that $2,000, soon to be increasing by $1,000 in a year in Missouri, asset limit. Which basically means, they’re going to expect you to sell it and use the money to help pay for your care. So, what are some things that fall within that category of what they consider luxury personal property.
For women, it would be things like jewelry, other than a wedding ring, maybe not costume jewelry which would be considered normal stuff, furs, antiques, collectibles, works of art. For guys, things like hunting and fishing equipment, a boat and motor, a gun collection. Basically anything that you’re not going to need on an everyday basis and you can take it to the pawn shop, hock it and get a little more money to keep paying for the nursing home. That’s what they’ll expect you to do. Thanks.
For more information on Medicaid and Asset Preservation, visit these articles:
- What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: IRAs and Other Retirement Assets
- What you can and can’t keep with Medicaid: Life Insurance
- What’s the Difference Between Estate Planning and Asset Preservation Planning?
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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.
