Probate & Trust Law Section Conference Manual ... - Minnesota CLE

C. The community spouse income allowance is not needs-based like Minnesota.
Instead, the community spouse is allowed all of his or her own income, plus a
monthly income shift from the institutionalized spouse, to provide the community
spouse with $2,267 total monthly income.
D. Pre-need funeral contracts are very peculiar in North Dakota and are not unlimited
such as in Minnesota (with proper irrevocable insurance or annuity policies or
assignments). North Dakota MA Manual Section 510-05-70-30(8) provides that
$6,000 or less may be set aside in a pre-need funeral contract. Pre-purchased
markers, headstones and vaults are countable assets for Medicaid, unless they are
part of the pre-need funeral contract. If the marker has been engraved, it is still a
countable asset, but will have a reduced value for the cost to resurface the marker
for public sale. If it is a shared pre-engraved marker with a predeceased spouse
buried under it, the manual provides that it has no resale value.
E. A vendor’s interest in a contract for deed in North Dakota is scrutinized under
North Dakota MA Manual Section 510-05-70-40 to determine:
Whether the sales price was for fair market value.
If there is a fair market interest rate.
Whether the North Dakota Department of Human Services life expectancy
for the vendor is shorter than the term of the contract (if so, it is deemed a
disqualifying transfer for Medicaid eligibility).
If the payments are current.
Whether the vendor may assign the contract.
There is a presumption that the vendor can sell the contract or the contract
payments by public advertisement.
F. A single premium immediate annuity may be purchased for the community
spouse to increase the community spouse’s income to $2,267 per month, even
after the date of the asset assessment and after the institutionalized spouse enters
the nursing home, per North Dakota MA Manual Section 510-05-70-45-30.
However, the annuity term must be within the life expectancy as published in the
North Dakota MA Manual at 510-05-100-75 (not the life expectancy set forth by
the annuity company). Additionally, the North Dakota Department of Human
Services must be irrevocably named as the primary beneficiary (as its interest may
appear for payment of Medicaid). North Dakota Department of Human Services
has a Notice to Insurer of Annuity (05-100-96) that must be sent to the company
that issued the annuity.
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