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Page 12 of 18 § 10:71-4.1 Financial eligibility standards; resources April 2014, the PAS occurred in 2014 and the applicant was financially eligible in November 2014. An earlier eligibility date was appropriately awarded because the board did not advise the applicant and her representatives that they were required to establish a Qualified Income Trust despite the fact that they had specifically asked about a QIT. Once they were advised that a QIT was required, they expeditiously established one. P.C. v. Middlesex Cnty. Bd. of Soc. Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 11293-15, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 510, Initial Decision (November 23, 2015). County board of social services was right to conclude that the countable resources of a 78 year old widow included a checking account that contained more than $ 70,000 even though her son, who was a co-owner of the checking account, insisted that nearly $ 60,000 of those funds were the proceeds from the sale of his house in which his mother had no legal interest. The widow was not under any disability or guardianship and the manner in which the account was titled - as an "or" account - meant that the widow had unrestricted access to all of the funds contained therein. S.M. v. Camden Cnty. Bd. of Social Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 04755-15, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 456, Initial Decision (November 20, 2015). ALJ rejected a determination of a county social services board finding that an applicant seeking Medicaid for nursing facility care was chargeable with annual income of $ 2,472.41 based on annual K-1 tax filings. Those filings related to a family trust granted under Texas law in 2004 into which the proceeds of the sale of the applicant's house were deposited. The trustee was not permitted to make distributions to the applicant but could make discretionary payments for her health and welfare. The evidence also showed that, in reality, the applicant did not receive any funds from the family trust nor have any power to compel such distributions. C.S. v. Cape May Cnty. Bd. of Soc. Servs., et al., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 1648-15 (ON REMAND HMA 9473-14), 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 513, Decision on Remand (October 14, 2015). Funds held in an escrow account on which the N.J. Office of the Public Guardian held a lien were not "available" to an applicant who was seeking eligibility for the Medicaid Only program within the meaning of governing rules and was not properly included in the "countable resources" on which an eligibility decision was properly based. C.H. v. Essex Cnty. Bd. of Social Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 08484-15, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 604, Initial Decision (September 24, 2015). Medicaid recipient was properly found ineligible for continuing benefits based on her receipt of $ 26,855.97 in proceeds from a settlement of a lawsuit because such proceeds were a "resource" and a "countable resource" as defined in governing law; because the recipient was unable to detail how she used the proceeds; and because its receipt meant that her monthly income exceeded the applicable income ceiling. D.B. v. Union Cnty. Bd. of Soc. Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 10797-15, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 509, Initial Decision (August 25, 2015). Applicant for Medicaid institutional level services was properly denied benefits on findings that he had transferred his residence to a third person, presumably retaining a life estate therein, because such a transfer was made for less than its FMV. A.M. v. Essex Cnty. Bd. of Social Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 08483-15, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 425, Initial Decision (July 16, 2015). Widow whose son wrongfully converted the proceeds from the sale of her house to his own benefit contrary to his fiduciary duty won a ruling that such proceeds were "inaccessible" and "unavailable" to the widow due to no fault of her own. The prior determination of a county board of social services to impose a penalty on the sale of the home had been rendered moot by intervening court action, and it was appropriate to remove the penalty and to grant a hardship waiver. M.M. v. DMAHS and Passaic Cnty. Bd. of Social Servs., OAL DKT. NO. HMA 08333-13, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 391, Initial Decision (July 15, 2015). Parents of two profoundly disabled children won a waiver from a duty to repay Medicaid benefits paid on behalf of those two children, which reimbursement was sought because the father failed to report his ownership of a 401(k) plan. While the 401(k) plan account was not reported on certain forms, it was reflected on paystubs regularly submitted by the father to the county. It also was significant that the funds at issue were used to retrofit the family home with an elevator lift to accommodate one child's wheelchair, to modify the bathroom to improve access for the