Courtesy of ElderLawAnswers.com, below is a roundup of the most influential elder law court decisions of 2010, together with my thoughts as to how those cases might carry into New Jersey. The Medicaid Annuity is still generating decisions across the county, as well as questions as to when a penalty period created by a transfer begins to run.

1. Nursing Home Resident May Not Transfer Assets Beyond the CSRA to Spouse

A U.S. district court holds that under Medicaid law an institutionalized spouse may not transfer assets beyond the CSRA to a community spouse after the Medicaid recipient's eligibility has been determined. Burkholder v. Lumpkin (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Ohio, No. 3:09CV01878, Feb. 9, 2010). To read the full story, click here.

(DWL – this is an unusual factual situation with a Medicaid recipient received inheritance after they were already nursing home and receiving benefits. Essentially, this maintains that the Community Spouse can only keep one half of the couple's assets up to a maximum of approximately hundred and $10,000, the Community Spousal Resource Allowance or “CSRA”)

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