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MEDICAL SERVICES POLICY MANUAL, SECTION E

E 522 Determining Value of Personal Property

back. If bond ownership is shared, each person’s share as a resource is equal even though any one of the owners listed on the bond may dispose of it. The value of a U.S. Savings Bond depends on the amount of time elapsed since issuance. There is a table of value on the reverse of many bonds; however, due to interest rate changes which may have occurred since issuance, it may not be accurate. Value determinations should be secured by contact with a bank or by visiting the US Treasury website at http://www.treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice. Documentation of the value determination will be entered in the case note.

12. Prepaid Burial Contract - A prepaid burial contract is an agreement in which an individual prepays his or her burial expenses and the seller agrees to furnish the burial.

Prepaid burial contracts may or may not be considered as countable resources for determinations of Medicaid eligibility, depending on the terms of the individual contract and depending on the legal authority of the seller to issue prepaid contracts (Re. MS E-523 #5 for treatment of burial funds).

13. Trusts - A trust is a right of property held by one party (the Trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary). The trustee holds the legal title of property for the beneficiary. The term “trust” includes any legal instrument or device that is similar to a trust, and may include annuities. Generally, an appointed trustee cannot use funds within the trust for his own benefit, and it is therefore not a resource to him or her. If an individual is not legally competent and a trust is established for the individual by a guardian or legal representative (including a parent for a child), using the individual’s resources, the trust will be treated as having been established by the individual, since he or she could not do it for himself or herself. Two considerations to be given to trusts, when an individual has established a trust and/or when an individual is beneficiary of a trust, are: a. Whether or not the trust is a countable resource to the Medicaid applicant/recipient, and