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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 5
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 57 Chapter 5 Assets
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 and/or WV WORKS eligibility. In determining whether payments can or cannot be made from a trust, take into account any restrictions on payments, such as use restrictions, exculpatory clauses, limits on trustee discretion, etc., that may be included in the trust. Payment for the Client’s Benefit Example 1: 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 that cannot, under any circumstances, be paid to, or for the benefit of the individual. In determining whether payments can or cannot be made from a trust, the Worker must take into account restrictions included in the trust on how payments can be made; the Worker must not take into account when payments can be made. When a trust provides, in some manner, that a payment can be made, even though that payment may be sometime in the future, the trust must be treated as providing that payment can be made from the trust. Payment for the Client’s Benefit Example 2: A trust contains $50,000 that the trustee can disburse only in the event that the grantor needs a heart transplant. The full amount is payment that could be made under some circumstances, even though the likelihood of payment is remote if the client does not have heart problems. 5.5.46.F Undue Hardship Caused by Trust There is a hardship provision for LTC Medicaid that allows the DOHS to exclude a trust when counting it results in undue hardship for the client. All decisions about undue hardship are made by the Undue Hardship Waiver Committee. Any requests for such a determination are submitted in writing and must show complete details about the undue hardship that will result. See "UNDUE HARDSHIP" in Section 5.1 and Section 24.8.