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Louisiana Medicaid Eligibility Manual Eligibility Factors

Reissued October 21, 2025 Page 5 of I-1670 Replacing January 27, 2025 Revised/added text indicated by underscore Deleted text indicated by “**” • Diverting income received, e.g. insurance proceeds, settlements, etc. into a trust, or similar device not by a court order; and/or

• Renouncing an inheritance.

I-1673.1 Transfers of Assets

Applicants may declare transferred assets on the application or unreported transfers may be discovered during the application or renewal process. The following circumstances may indicate a transfer of assets occurred:

• Establishing a trust;

• The purchase of an annuity;

• Disposing of assets which could be received but are refused (e.g., refusing an inheritance);

• A pattern of unusual withdrawals or deposits prior to admission or application reported on financial statements;

• Tax assessor or clerk of courts records showing past ownership of real property by the applicant or their spouse;

• The owner of a life insurance policy irrevocably waives their rights to surrender the policy for cash, obtain a loan against the policy or to change the ownership of the policy without obtaining a funeral for fair market value. Contractual agreement and a list of funeral goods and services can be used to verify value of the funeral services and goods. (RS 37:862).

• Purchase of usufruct (life estate) interest;

For the purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid coverage, the terms “life estate” and “usufruct” have the same meaning.

Some States allow life estates with powers, wherein the owner of the property creates a life estate for himself or herself, retaining the power to sell the property, with a remainder interest to someone else. Since the life estate