However, all liquid assets are counted, such as stocks, bonds, cash value of insurance policies, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, IRA's. Any other real estate besides the home is counted. Assets to which the applicant has no access are not counted. Thus, if the applicant holds a bank account jointly with someone whose signature is required for access to the funds, and that person refuses to sign, the account is not counted. If the applicant's signature is required and he or she is not mentally competent and has no court appointed guardian, those assets are not counted.
State regulations force nursing homes to seek guardianships over incompetent patients.
Concerned relatives should be involved in any court proceeding to be sure that the incompetent patient is well represented. Please call our office if you have questions about guardianship actions. The principal place of residence is a specific legal term which means the place where one has been and to which one intends to return. Many nursing home patients are not likely to return home but genuinely intend to do so. Medicaid cannot count the home of such a patient as an asset.