A U.S. district court denies a Medicaid applicant a preliminary injunction after the state denied her application because she created an irrevocable trust outside of the look-back period. Vinci v. Connolly (U.S. Dist. Ct., D. N.J., No. 17-cv-7709 (PGS), Oct. 25, 2017)
In 2011, Grace Vinci created an irrevocable trust with her daughter as trustee. The trust purchased property. In 2016, Ms. Vinci applied for Medicaid. The state determined that the trust was an available resource, and Ms. Vinci appealed.
At a hearing the administrative law judge ruled that the trust was an available asset because the resources in the trust are unavailable to Ms. Vinci through her own "fault" in creating an irrevocable trust. Ms. Vinci sued the state in federal court and filed a motion for preliminary injunction.
Without discussion, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey denies the motion for preliminary injunction. According to the December 2017 issue of The ElderLaw Report, during oral argument the state retreated from its argument that the assets were countable due to Ms. Vinci's fault in funding the trust, which apparently has heretofore been the state’s position even for trusts established outside of the look-back period.
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://business.cch.com/elr/Vinci.pdf
For ElderLawAnswers member attorney Donald D. Vanarelli's blog post on this decision, click here.
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