A U.S. district court refuses to grant a preliminary injunction to prevent New Jersey from treating a promissory note as a trust-like instrument for the purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility. Wesner v. Velez (D. N.J., No. 10-308 (JAP), April 19, 2010).
Santina Wesner, a New Jersey nursing home resident, gave an uncompensated gift of $80,000 to her attorney-in-fact, Anne Aamland, and then purchased a promissory note for $60,000 from Ms. Aamland. Ms. Wesner applied for Medicaid benefits, and incurred an 11-month penalty for the gift. She didn't disclose the promissory note on her application and indicated she wasn't owed any money. Ms. Wesner eventually informed the state about the note and admitted it was part of a Medicaid planning strategy.
Ms. Wesner filed a claim against the state in federal court, asking for a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from treating the promissory note as a trust-like instrument and considering it an available resource for the purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey denies the motion for preliminary injunction. The court finds that the circumstances of the note combined with the acknowledgement that the note was part of a Medicaid planning technique place the bona fides of the note in question.
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://attorney.elderlawanswers.com/full-text-of-opinion-in-wesner-v-velez-d-nj-no-10-308-jap-april-19-2010-8263
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