Terminate Conservatorship When T19 is Granted

As many of my clients will readily attest to, finding out that Medicaid has been granted for a loved one is cause for celebration.  The harrowing process usually takes months and the amount of information that needs to be generated, organized and sent to the State is mind-boggling.  So when the journey ends you feel like doing cartwheels.

But there's another benefit to achieving Medicaid eligibility; if you are acting as "conservator of the estate" (managing the finances for an incapacitated person with Probate Court oversight) for someone who has been granted Medicaid eligibility, the path should be clear for terminating the conservatorship.  Since the person now has less than $1,600 in assets and all of the person's income is going to the nursing home, the Probate Judge is usually happy to terminate the conservatorship of the estate since there are not enough funds left to warrant the continued Probate Court involvement in the person's finances.  That means no more preparing and filing periodic accountings, and no more hearings regarding finances.

So, unless there is an extraordinary situation which would require the conservatorship of the estate to continue, you can go ahead and file a final accounting and request termination.  Please note that any "conservatorship of the person" (when a person is in charge of managing personal affairs for an incapacitated person, with Probate Court oversight) will probably have to continue since health care decisions will still need to be made.

DISCLAIMER: This blog does not offer legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.  If you need legal advice, consult with a lawyer instead of a blog.

Comments

[George E. Bourguignon, Jr.]

Excellent advice. I bet that there are many people continuing on after the eligibility is granted and need to hear this.

[Mina Sirkin]

In California, those who are on Medi-Cal (California's version of Medicaid), cannot have more than $2,000 in their accounts. We caution our conservators of estate to keep a vigilant look out for excess income or assets when a conservatee is on Medi-Cal. Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney, Mina Sirkin 818.340.4479. http://www.sirkinlaw.com/conservatorship.html