Can my mom give her car to my brother and have it not count in the 5 year look back for Medicaid application in Massachusetts?

My understanding of this dilemma is that a family member should pay for any asset that someone else owns. That money in turn can then be used to pay for an elderly person. Title transfer and costs for license plate change should be handled by the purchaser. There is no such thing as a free lunch, especially if the owner of the vehicle has been diagnosed with dementia. It starts to cross the line of exploitation of the elderly, which is why most people will tell you: pay for the asset, with a check, not cash, with a receipt, and see that the money is deposited into your parents account. This is just normal practice when people pay as they go, and reduce family stress of being labeled 'a taker'. Not good, if the person already has dementia or even may be still undiagnosed. Good idea to sell the car. That's I can add to this. Good luck!

Kudos to him for offering her a fair market price on his own initiative. She's entitled to that, and she should accept the offer - best all round for her being treated fairly, his self-respect and avoiding any sniffiness from Medicaid about it. I can't really see what advantage there would be to tinkering with the arrangement?

I wish. She was recently told she can no longer drive due to dementia. He wants the car for himself. He has offered to pay the Kelly Blue Book Value but I was wondering if she could give it or sell it to him for less than the value without jeopardizing her future Medicaid application once her money is spent down to pay for NH care

I suppose she can loan it to him - doesn't Medicaid allow the applicant to have one vehicle? So as long as she remains its actual owner, it would be disregarded?

What is the thinking behind this, though? Is your brother planning to use the car for anything that could conceivably be to your mother's benefit, such as taking her to appointments?

No