Medicaid spend-down and leased car. How does this affect his ability to qualify?

"I’m going to suggest that you down to the tax collectors office to ask for a copy of the vehicle tax bill. The car has real property taxes due & need to be paid to get a license plate."

This is a concept I don't fully understand. My brother lives in NC and I think this is similar to how they handle car registration. But in the State of NJ we don't do this. We just pay a yearly registration and the cost depends on the vehicle you own. For me I pay about 60+ to register an SUV. Small cars don't pay as much as big trucks. We do pay sales tax when we purchase a car no matter if old or new. If we buy in another state, we pay the tax when the car is registered in NJ.

Medicaid won’t care as it’s leased so it’s not an asset.

But I bet he’s fully responsible for payments & anything else w the lease should Sissy default. The monthly payments have to be paid but also since it’s a lease there could be sorts of fees associated with the turn in.

You need to get a copy of the actual lease. & this could be somewhat sticky to do. I’m assuming that Sissy will not just give you a copy of hers, is that pretty accurate?
I done a corporate lease for ages and here’s what I’ve found,
- dealership might not keep paperwork once the deal is done as it goes to the finance co. So if it’s a Nissan, NMAC has the paperwork, if it’s a Mini then BMW has it. You can write them if you have the lease # & your ID and they can email you the lease.
- but might raise red flags as you don’t actually know IF dad is listed as an owner or not and how his name reads on the lease.
- you also don’t know if Sissy is current on the terms of her lease either.

so instead, I’m going to suggest that you down to the tax collectors office to ask for a copy of the vehicle tax bill. The car has real property taxes due & need to be paid to get a license plate. The assessor office needs a copy of the lease sent to them from the dealership to record the price, who holds lease so tax bill & vehicle registration reads correctly, and do all this to issue (or link up) the license plate. The assessors office keeps the info. I’d go w my dpoa and a copy of dads ID and say that dad needs to get auto insurance and needs the lease info to get his policy rated correctly but your Sister is foot dragging so maybe could they help you, pretty please.

if Sissy defaults, Vehicle gets repo’d. But I bet it won’t end there as will be early exits fees, etc related to defaulting on the lease and debt collector will go after whomever on the lease. If dads beyond his spend down & on Medicaid, he’s pretty much judgement proof. But not till then

Remind Sissy that dad cannot gift any $ as he’s on his Medicaid spend down. Even if dad promised her he’d help her, he can’t anymore.

Yes, they are allowed one car. But how is the lease written? Does he get the credit for payment or does she? Is he just a cosigner? I can't imagine that the dealer didn't need the cosigner/co-owner's signature to renew a lease. I would call the dealer and ask why that was allowed. Maybe she had Dad's name taken off? Maybe her credit is now good so no need for a cosigner?

If Dad is still considered a co-owner, then I may tell the dealership Dads circumstances and that you cannot guarantee payment if sister defaults on the lease because Dad is in NH and will soon be applying for Medicaid. That he has Dementia and would not have been able to renew the contract anyway. They cannot garnish his SS.

Whose name is the car in? Who is on the registration as legal owner?

When my husband went to help by my daughter buy a car, he was told they no longer call it a cosigner. Its now called co-owner. That yes, my husband would be liable for the payments if daughter defaulted but she would get credit for making the payment so she could bring up her credit rating.

I have never leased a car but I wouldn't think leasing and actually buying were that different when it comes to cosigner/co-owner.

I am not sure, but a leased car is not an asset and cannot be sold, so Medicaid should not care, as long as his money is not being used to pay for it. Have a paper trail to prove sister pays the lease. Even so, I think even Medicaid recipients are allowed to own one car. And it's not even owned.