In a Nov. 20, 2015 article, “When Nursing Homes Use Guardianship Law to Collect Debts,” Daniel G. Fish claimed that my firm filed a guardianship petition on behalf of a nursing home client for debt collection. This is not true. Quoting directly from the Verified Petition we filed in Matter of G.S., we sought the appointment of a guardian “to investigate the assets of G.S., create an irrevocable burial trust if one does not exist, spend down the assets of G.S. in order to meet the eligibility requirements to obtain Medicaid, and to provide the Suffolk County Department of Social Services with any documents required to secure Medicaid.”
The need for guardianship in Matter of G.S. arose when G.S. was denied Medicaid due to excess resources, and her agent son under a power of attorney refused to take any steps to establish G.S.’s entitlement to medical assistance. The son had sold his mother’s home, accounted for only a fraction of the sale proceeds, and failed to provide Medicaid with proof of his mother’s financial need. It was only at the guardianship hearing itself that the son finally explained how the missing $42,000 of his mother’s funds had been spent. Once this information was furnished to Medicaid, G.S. qualified for benefits.
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