MHL ARTICLE 81 - New York State Unified Court System

NYS Association for Retarded Children et al. v. Spitzer, (unpublished stipulation and order
available from departmental office of MHLS) EDNY 72 CV 356, 357 (RJD)
When Willowbrook class member comes into sum by virtue of a Social Security lump sum payment
of $10,000 - $50,000, or any other asset such as a tort recovery or inheritance of $10,000 - $100,000,
the State may not refuse to petition the court to have the funds placed into a pooled trust. If a lump
sum social security payment exceeds $50,000 or any other asset exceeds $100,000 the State may
petition to have the funds placed in an individual SNT but the SNT instrument shall direct that the
trustee consult with Consumer Advisory Board (“CAB”) as to how to best use the funds for the class
member’s benefit and the State must advise the court that if a suitable individual trustee is not
available that there is still an option of a pooled trust. The State and CAB must remain neutral on
the question of the best type of trust for the clients and if the asset is between $5,000 and $10,000
the funds may be placed in an individual court-ordered patient account and treated as a medicaid
exception trust under SS Law 366.2(b)(2)(iv) with a payback provision.
Matter of Christine Banks, NYLJ, 6/28/00, p. 26 (Sup. Ct., NY Cty.)(Parness, J.)
Court appointed guardian with power to establish pooled trust for benefit of IP. Guardian fails to
carry out its duty to establish trust. During roughly 2 years time that trust should have been in
existence but was not, Medicaid made substantial medical payments on IP’s behalf. Then, new
guardian appointed. He locates additional assets and then applies to add them to pooled trust
previously approved by court. DSS opposes, saying that it has lien for payments made and Medicaid
should be payor of last resort. Court allows establishment of pooled trust citing intent of Court of
Appeals in Shah and rule of equity that says that “equity regards as done that which should have been
done.”
Matter of Steffi Salomon, NYLJ, 9/2/98, pg. 23, col. 5 (Surr. Ct. New York Cty. 1998)
An Article 17-A guardian can transfer a ward’s assets into a charitable pooled asset trust. The UJA
Trust is established pursuant to Social Security Services Law, which mirrors the substance of the
federal Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1993. The pooled trust concept combines the resources of
various individual beneficiaries and enables them to receive the advantage of nonprofit investment
management which an individual supplemental needs trust could not ordinarily obtain.
Matter of Siegel (Altschuler), 169 Misc.2d 613, 645 N.Y.S.2d 999 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty.,
1996)(Rossetti, J.)
Trustees sought to transfer assets from SNT to charitable pooled trust. The income trust was set up
for two allegedly incapacitated sisters. The court stated that, if assets were put into a pooled trust,
when the sisters died remaining amounts could be kept in the trust for charitable purposes, rather
than just for reimbursing Medicaid. Court stated that the “U.J.A. trust” at issue was a proper pooled
asset trust under federal Medicaid legislation, but it did not approve the transfer, as the income trust
was irrevocable without certain steps taken.
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