From Yahoo Finance · · 2m
Medicaid Counts Full Joint Account as Applicant's Asset
Medicaid counts $90,000 joint savings account entirely as applicant's asset when all deposits came from them.
In brief
Medicaid counts $90,000 joint savings account entirely as applicant's asset when all deposits came from them. Medicaid counts full joint account balance as the applicant's asset if all deposits originated from them, regardless of co-owner's name. Originally reported by Yahoo Finance.
Medicaid asset rule
Medicaid counts the full joint account balance as the applicant's asset when all deposits originated from them, regardless of whose name appears on the account.
Joint account withdrawal penalty
Withdrawals from a joint account used for the co-owner's personal benefit can trigger a Medicaid penalty period under the five-year look-back rule.
Clark Howard's warning
Clark Howard warns against joint accounts for bill-paying convenience, recommending a durable financial power of attorney to separate authority from ownership.
Father's $90,000 account
A father added his daughter to a $90,000 savings account so she could pay utilities, property taxes and medical bills with every deposit from his paycheck, pension and Social Security.
Medicaid's presumption rule
Under the common SSI-style rule, when only one joint owner is applying for benefits, the full balance is initially presumed to belong to that applicant.
No rebuttal possible
The father has nothing to counter: every dollar came from him, adding his daughter didn't reduce his assets or move him closer to Medicaid's countable-resource limit of $2,000 in most states.
State variations matter
New York applies the 100% presumption strictly, while California permits a much higher individual asset cap than many other states.
Daughter's rebuttal strategy
The daughter can rebut the presumption using statements tracing deposits, corroborating statements from both account holders and records showing how withdrawals were spent.
Withdrawal penalty example
A $40,000 withdrawal used to buy her a car or pay her mortgage can be treated as an uncompensated transfer by the father, triggering a penalty period under Medicaid's five-year look-back rule.
Financial power of attorney solution
A durable financial power of attorney could have authorized the daughter to pay his bills without making her an owner of any account, separating authority from ownership.
The big picture
Medicaid counts full joint account balance as the applicant's asset if all deposits originated from them, regardless of co-owner's name.
