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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 24
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 48 Chapter 24 Long Term Care
➢ Revocable Trusts Once the Worker determines the trust was not established by a will and does not meet one of the exceptions above, the following rules apply: • The corpus of the trust is considered an available asset. • Payments from the trust to the client or for his benefit are counted as income. ➢ Irrevocable Trusts Once the Worker determines the trust was not established by a will and does not meet one of the exceptions above, the following rules apply: • If there are any circumstances under which payments from the trust could be made to the client or for his benefit, that portion of the corpus, or the interest, is an asset. • If payments are made from the available corpus, or interest, to the client or for his benefit, the amount is treated as income. ▪ Payment for the Client’s Benefit Throughout this item "payments made on behalf of the client" or "for his benefit" means payments of any kind to another entity, such that the client derives some benefit from the payment. This may include, but is not limited to, clothing, television, payments for services or care rendered, whether medical or personal, payments to maintain a home, etc. Any payment for the benefit of the client is counted, even if it is not customarily counted in determining Medicaid. In determining whether payments can or cannot be made from a trust, the Worker must take into account any restrictions on payments, such as use restrictions, exculpatory clauses, and limits on trustee discretion, which may be included in the trust. Client Benefit Example: If a trust provides that the trustee can disburse only $1,000 out of a $20,000 trust, only the $1,000 is treated as a payment that could be made to the client or for his benefit. The remaining $19,000 is treated as an amount which cannot, under any circumstances, be paid to, or for the benefit of the client. Restricted Use Example: A trust contains $50,000 which the trustee can disburse only in the event the grantor needs a heart transplant. The full amount is payment which could be made under some circumstances, even though the likelihood of payment is remote if the client does not have heart problems.