Medicaid eligibility and jointly held property--can sale be forced for spend-down purposes?

Got an update straight from the horse's mouth, a state DHHS worker in their long term care division. The value of the share of the Medicaid applicant is not being counted as an asset since DHHS has coded it that the other 2 owners do not want to sell. They advised my husband to get 2 independent assessments by realtors of the current market value of the property and have those on file with the DHHS. Then, if they do end up selling the land and it goes for under the town's assessed value, the DHHS will know this was fair and not a ploy to sell for less than market value, which would be considered gifting to the buyer. Interestingly, they said they have to go with the town's tax assessment value, irrespective of what the market actually may be.

The Medicaid applicant's other assets were higher than allowed when he applied, but by now they are down as another month of nursing home fees had to be paid. So, all that has to be done is send new documents showing the assets are now under the allowable limit, and we expected this.

The property will need to be sold at Fair Market Value. If you get less, his fifth will probably still be based on fair market value. Yes, talk to a lawyer.

We think the best thing to do is to put the property on the market. It's very overvalued by the town and they'd be lucky to get half of that. It may take a long time to sell too. If a good faith effort is being made to sell, I wonder if Medicaid could be approved and then paid back when the property sells? If they got the full assessed value, the nursing home brother's share would cover about 5 months at the place where he is.

In Maine unless it was a family working farm or a primary residence for the person, options are limited. The state cannot force a sale unless he is deemed incompetent and a guardian is appointed. In that case, a guardian would take steps for the care of his charge which would probably include division and sale. What the state can and will do is deny Medicaid coverage due to excess assets, as you have found out. Can the siblings use the value of land to get money to buy him out? Is there a reason to hang onto the property?

Which state?