An Ohio appeals court holds that the wife of a nursing home resident who was removed as guardian because she commingled funds was not entitled to reimbursement for payments she made on her husband's behalf because she couldn't prove the payments came from her personal funds. In re Trust of Moskowitz (Ohio Ct. App., 11 Dist., Nos. 2011-L-165, 2011-L-165, March 29, 2013).
Perry Moskowitz entered a nursing home, and his wife, Deborah, was appointed his guardian. Mrs. Moskowitz asked the court to approve the transfer of the majority of Mr. Moskowitz's assets to her so that he could apply for Medicaid. All but $1,500 of Mr. Moskowitz's assets were transferred to Mrs. Moskowitz, who used the funds to pay approximately $26,000 to the nursing home as well as settle a tax bill. After five years, Mrs. Moskowitz was removed as guardian, in part because she was comingling guardianship funds with her personal assets.
Mr. Moskowitz received an inheritance, and the new guardian asked the court to establish a special needs trust. Mrs. Moskowitz asked the court to stay the distribution of the inheritance because she should be reimbursed for the tax payments and the payments she made to the nursing home. The trial court denied her request, finding that Mrs. Moskowitz did not show that the payments came from her personal funds. Mrs. Moskowitz appealed, arguing that the funds she derived from the transfer of assets belonged solely to her and because the amount she paid was greater than the $1,500 that Mr. Moskowitz retained, she was not using guardianship funds to make the payments.
The Ohio Court of Appeals affirms, holding that Mrs. Moskowitz could not prove she used her own funds to make the payments. According to the court, while the transferred funds belonged solely to Mrs. Moskowitz, in the guardianship removal proceeding there was evidence that she commingled personal funds with guardianship funds, so there was no way to prove the payments came from her personal assets.
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