Pohlmann v. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
Nebraska Supreme Court
710 N.W.2d 639 (2006)
Relevant factsFree
A testamentary trust from her late husband's will gave Ruth Pohlmann (plaintiff) trust income for life plus whatever principal the trustee, in its total discretion, deemed appropriate for her health and support. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (defendant) denied Ruth's Medicaid application by counting both the trust's income and its full corpus as available resources, pushing her over the eligibility threshold, even though her other resources fell below it.
IssueFree
Whether the corpus of a testamentary discretionary trust is available to the beneficiary for purposes of Medicaid eligibility.