Update: NAELA Files Amicus Brief and Presents Oral Argument in Massachusetts High Court Case (Nadeau v. Thorn)

5/31/2017--Massachusetts' highest court ruled on May 29, 2017, that the home property and the remainder interest held in Medicaid applicants' irrevocable income-only trusts were not available assets even though the applicants retained the right to use the houses during their lifetimes. Daley v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (Mass., No. SJC-12200, May 30, 2017) and Nadeau v. Director of the Office of Medicaid (Mass., No. SJC-12205, May 30, 2017).
 
NAELA member Brian Barreira, CELA, represented Mary Daley, and NAELA member Lisa Neeley represented Lionel Nadeau. NAELA and the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA submitted amicus briefs in support of the Nadeaus and Daleys, as did the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts. Read more.

1/11/2017--NAELA filed an amicus curiae brief in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and joined the oral argument on January 5, in support of two Medicaid applicants asking the court to require “MassHealth,” the state’s Medicaid agency, to comply with federal law in its treatment of trusts holding the Medicaid applicants’ former homes. MassHealth argues that the applicants’ right to live in the houses make the houses “available,” and thus MassHealth can value that use at the entire fair market value of the property. In its brief, written by Emily S. Starr, Ron M. Landsman, CAP (who presented the oral argument), Rene H. Reixach, John W. Callinan, and Lauren Marinaro, NAELA reviews the authoritative federal agency view that under the mandatory federal Medicaid trust rules, trustee authority to make payments of income makes income “available,” and trustee authority to distribute corpus  makes corpus “available,” but there is no overlap – authority to distribute income does not make corpus “available” for Medicaid purposes.

12/19/2016--As directed by the Board, NAELA filed an amicus curiae brief in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in support of appellants’ request (Lionel Nadeau and Mary E. Daley) that the Court reverse the lower courts’ entries of summary judgment in favor of the Respondents (MassHealth). The brief, written by Emily S. Starr, Ron M. Landsman, CAP, Rene H. Reixach, John W. Callinan, and Lauren Marinaro, demonstrates NAELA’s support of consistent, reliable and proper interpretation of federal Medicaid laws on “use and occupancy” rights, asset valuation, and Medicaid trust rules. (See attachment.)