If your estate planning documents are more than a couple years old, you should probably update them to add QIT authority to your power of attorney.
Since August 1, 2016, all Ohio Financial Powers of Attorney (FPOA) should specifically allow the attorney-in-fact to create a Qualified Income Trust (QIT), also known as a Miller Trust, to allow the person creating the FPOA to qualify for Ohio Medicaid if and when necessary.
Very few durable powers of attorney include this provision because there was no need for it until 2016. Now, however, any Medicaid applicant with monthly income above 300% of SSI ($2,349 in 2020), will not be eligible for Medicaid without a QIT.
If the Medicaid applicant is not competent and cannot create their own QIT, then someone else must do it for them. The problem is, that person must have legal authority to do so by either being the attorney-in-fact under the incapacitated person’s genera durable power of attorney or by being named guardian by the probate court.
Medicaid recipients in nursing homes, assisted living and those receiving Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), such as PASSPORT, are all affected.
Make sure you update your power of attorney to include the authority to make a QIT! Call Golowin Legal at (614) 453-5208 today to schedule an appointment.
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