An Ohio appeals court rules that the state correctly valued the sale of a Medicaid applicant’s life estate using the specific state Medicaid life estate law as opposed to the more general law on determining fair market value. Stutz v. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (Ohio Ct. App., 3rd Dist., No. 15-17-02, Aug. 21, 2017).
Barbara Stutz owned a life estate in her property and her sons owned the remainder interest. She entered a nursing home and applied for Medicaid. The state approved the application but decided the life estate was an asset that must be valued. Ms. Stutz appraised the life estate at $2,000 and sold it to her sons for $1,800. The state determined that the correct life estate value was $24,941, and it imposed a penalty period on Ms. Stutz for an improper transfer of assets.
Ms. Stutz appealed, arguing that the state should have used the general definition of fair market value in state law, which defines fair market value as the going rate that property can be expected to sell for on the open market, to value her life estate. She presented evidence that local realtors and bankers valued her life estate at $2,000. Instead, the state used the state law that applies to Medicaid and life estates and ruled that $24,941 was the correct value. Ms. Stutz appealed to court, and the trial court affirmed the state’s decision.
The Ohio Court of Appeals, 3rd District, affirms, holding that the state properly valued the life estate. According to the court, “a specific statute prevails over a general statute,” so the state correctly used the life-estate-value statute rather than the general fair-market-value statute.
For the full text of this decision, go to: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/3/2017/2017-Ohio-7287.pdf
For more on Medicaid Planning go to: http://www.raphanlaw.com/medicaid-planning-
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