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Mom has an old, but sturdy car. She can no longer drive it. She wants to give it to her grandson, but we don't know what is the maximum dollar amount in assets that can be gifted to someone per year. I doubt that she will get to a point where she will need Medicaid, however I refuse to take chances with her finances and want to ensure I cover all bases before finalizing the gifting of the car. Also, the car may have about $3500 in value, but requires $1000 in repairs - which my nephew is paying for. To the net difference in asset exchange would be $2400. Mom has an elder law attorney but due to some complications with another family member, we were in talks with another partner/lawyer to do a guardianship (because of the neglect mom was receiving at the hands of her son. Now she lives with her daughter in a different city and there are controls in place to protect her from the nonsense she was enduring. Therefore - and I have he DPOA - I've held off on pursuing the guardianship. I don't want to spend the money unless I feel Mom's competency begins to diminish or that she could be in some sort of dire situation.). Since I've not gone forward with the guardianship, her attorney hasn't been very responsive. Additionally, Mom has essentially given the car to my nephew and the car is being repaired. I just want to make sure I have an audit/document trail for future reference if need be. Any advice you can provide is GREATLY appreciated. By the way, I'm so glad a venue like this exists. Really helps me plough forward. Thanks all!

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I wouldn't worry about the gifting of the car for a few reasons. The rules on this are pretty complicated, but in a nutshell, there is a five year look back period that starts at the time of applying for Medicaid and looks back 5 years to see what transfers of assets occurred during this period. If the gifting of the car occurred during this period then this would not make her ineligible for Medicaid forever, it just delays eligibility for a period based upon the value transferred. For example, if the cost of nursing home care in your area is $5000 per month and the car is valued at $2500, then the eligibility for Medicaid would be delayed a half month (The theory being that mom should have the $2500 to pay for that period of care) That's basically what you're looking at, something in that range so not the end of the world.
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You need to have something to document the more accurate value of the car at the time of the transfer IF the value is less than its Blue book value. Like photos to show damage &/or estimates in writing on mechanics letterhead & repair bills at the time of transfer. Then hang onto these as you will need them to make a transfer inquiry go away.

My mom gave worthless nephew her car when she moved into IL. When she applied for NH later, it came up firvtransfer inquiry as her state does a 5 yr look back on real property. Real property (house, land, cars) are recorded locally by tax assessors & dovetail to state database, so a super easy & simple set of keystrokes for the caseworker. I had old checks to show repairs (to devalue worth) but I also got a on letterhead from the mechanic my mom went to for decades as to condition on car (parts pull) and what he would pay for it. You need for this and whatever savings she has to be under 2k as they are allowed to have 2k in assets (assets not income). Get what you can to devalue car & set aside and you should be fine to deal with an inquiry. Do make sure that whatever is required for title transfer (like remove old license plate) for your state is done.
Good luck.
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Berger, the maximum gift under Medicaid is ZERO. So you just created a $3500 gift penalty under Medicaid rule. Don't confuse that with the IRS gift tax rules, which are totally different.
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