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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 24
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 54 Chapter 24 Long Term Care
insurance payments cannot be used again to disregard other assets. Should Mr. Sunflower’s money market increase in value or if he acquires additional countable assets, he must verify additional payments by the insurance company before any other assets can be disregarded. Mr. Sunflower’s amount of assets that were protected at estate recovery is also reduced from $10,000 to $5,000 since the previously disregarded stock was transferred to his son. 24.8.2.B.9 Transfer on Death Deed A client who transfers his property to a death beneficiary, while retaining the right to ownership, may execute a deed known as a transfer on death deed. This allows the owner to retain all rights of ownership, including the right to revoke the deed or transfer or encumber the property. At the owner’s death, the property passes directly to the death beneficiary without going through probate. The deed must be recorded at the courthouse during the owner’s lifetime to be valid. A transfer on death deed is not subject to a transfer penalty as the client still retains ownership in the property until their death. West Virginia may file a Medicaid lien against the property of the Medicaid client during the client’s lifetime. If the Medicaid lien still exists at the time of the Medicaid client’s death, the lien would remain imposed against the property transferred to the death beneficiary of the transfer on death deed, under West Virginia law. 24.8.2.C Transfers That Are Not Permissible All transfers not specified as permissible result in an application of a penalty. This also applies to jointly owned resources. The jointly owned resource, or the affected portion of it, is considered transferred by the client when any action is taken, either by the client or any other person, which reduces or eliminates the client's ownership or control of the resource. The transfer of property to a family member or other individual that does not meet the requirements for transfer of property listed in 24.8.2.B, for less than FMV which stipulates the client and/or their spouse have lifetime rights to the property, is not a permissible transfer and results in an application of a penalty.