(A) This rule describes the treatment of life
estates for the purposes of determining eligibility for medical
assistance.
(B) Definitions.
(1) "Date of signature" is the date on which
an individual with authority to transfer the
physical property actually signed
the life estate instrument.
(2)
"Individual," for
the purpose of this rule, has the same meaning as in rule
5160:1-1-01 of the
Administrative Code.
(2)(3) "Life estate" means
an ownership interest in
physical property
wherein one person holds the right to possess, use, and obtain profits from the
physical property
as
long as he or she lives
for the extent of the
person's lifetime, while another person holds the actual ownership
interest in the
physical property.
(a) A life estate is a form of legal
ownership.
(b)
It
A life
estate is usually created through an instrument
, such as
a deed
,
or
a will
, or by operation
of law.
(c) A life estate
instrument often identifies remaindermen who will take possession of the
physical property upon the expiration of the life
estate.
(d) A life estate owner
, also known as a life tenant, owns
the
a life
estate property only for the duration
of time
specified
of
in the life estate
instrument.
The
Only the individual
who
owner
owns
the life estate can sell
only his or
her interest in the life estate. The
life
estate owner cannot take any action concerning the interest of the
remainderman.
(3)(4) "Recording date"
means the date that the
life estate deed is
recorded with the county auditor, county recorder, or other appropriate
government agency charged with the responsibility for recording real estate
transfers and titles.
(4)(5) A "remainderman"
is a person who inherits or is entitled to inherit
physical property in a life estate. A remainderman has an ownership
interest in the physical property but normally does not have the right to
possess and use the property until
termination
the
expiration of the life estate.
(C) Unless specifically prohibited by the
instrument establishing the life estate or remainder interest:
(1) The life estate owner has the right to
possess, use, and obtain profits from the
physical property and to sell his or her life estate
interest.
(2) The remainderman has
the right to sell his or her interest in the physical property even before the
life estate interest expires
, but the life estate owner
still retains rights to use the physical property until the expiration of the
life estate.
(D)
Categories of life estates.
(1) Life estates
established with the individual's property.
(a) A life estate held by an individual falls
within this category
if
when the life estate is established with property
that
in which
the individual held an ownership interest.
(b)
If
When the individual
has the right to transfer or sell the life estate, the life estate's fair
market value is considered a countable resource unless it qualifies as an
excluded resource as described in rule
5160:1-3-05.14 of the
Administrative Code.
(2)
Life estates not established by the individual.
(a) A life estate held by an individual falls
within this category
if
when the life estate is established with
physical property that the individual did not
hold an ownership interest in at the time of the establishment of the life
estate.
(b)
If
When the
individual has the right to transfer or sell the life estate, the life estate's
fair market value is considered a countable resource unless it qualifies as an
excluded resource as described in rule
5160:1-3-05.14 of the
Administrative Code.
(E)
If
When the life
estate is the individual's principal place of residence, as described in rule
5160:1-3-05.13 of the
Administrative Code, the fair market value of the life estate is excluded as a
resource.
(F) Effective date of the
creation of a life estate.
(1) For life
estates that are recorded within six months after the date of signature, the
date of signature is the date of transfer.
(2)
If
When a life estate
is recorded more than six months after the date of signature, the individual
must produce documentation from other sources verifying that the transfer
occurred on the date of signature rather than the date of recording.
(a) Such documentation may consist of
financial records from lending institutions, tax records from governmental
agencies, or records from other agencies or private or public
instititutions
institutions.
(b) The individual may provide statements of
persons holding a remainder interest, or other persons who participated in the
creation of the life estate.
(G) Calculating the fair market value of a
life estate.
(1) The administrative agency
must first determine the fair market value of the
physical property as established by the county
auditor.
If
When a valuation by a county auditor is unavailable,
the value shall be based upon a valuation by the appropriate governmental
agency charged with the responsibility for valuation of real
property.
(2) The administrative
agency must deduct from the fair market value of the
physical property all liens and encumbrances that have
been placed against the property.
(3) The administrative agency must deduct
from the fair market value of the
physical
property all liens and encumbrances that have been placed against the life
estate.
(4) After
the deductions, the balance is the equity
value of the
physical property.
(5) The administrative agency must multiply
the equity value of the
physical property by the
product that corresponds to the life estate owner's age at the time of
determination for medical assistance on the following life estate table:
AGE
|
LIFE ESTATE
|
REMAINDER
|
0
|
.97188
|
.02812
|
1
|
.98988
|
.01012
|
2
|
.99017
|
.00983
|
3
|
.99008
|
.00992
|
4
|
.98981
|
.01019
|
5
|
.98938
|
.01062
|
6
|
.98884
|
.01116
|
7
|
.98822
|
.01178
|
8
|
.98748
|
.01252
|
9
|
.98663
|
.01337
|
10
|
.98565
|
.01435
|
11
|
.98453
|
.01547
|
12
|
.98329
|
.01671
|
13
|
.98198
|
.01802
|
14
|
.98066
|
.01934
|
15
|
.97937
|
.02063
|
16
|
.97815
|
.02185
|
17
|
.97700
|
.02300
|
18
|
.97590
|
.02410
|
19
|
.97480
|
.02520
|
20
|
.97365
|
.02635
|
21
|
.97245
|
.02755
|
22
|
.97120
|
.02880
|
23
|
.96986
|
.03014
|
24
|
.96841
|
.03159
|
25
|
.96678
|
.03322
|
26
|
.96495
|
.03505
|
27
|
.96290
|
.03710
|
28
|
.96062
|
.03938
|
29
|
.95813
|
.04187
|
30
|
.95543
|
.04457
|
31
|
.95254
|
.04746
|
32
|
.94942
|
.05058
|
33
|
.94608
|
.05392
|
34
|
.94250
|
.05750
|
35
|
.93868
|
.06132
|
36
|
.93460
|
.06540
|
37
|
.93026
|
.06974
|
38
|
.92567
|
.07433
|
39
|
.92083
|
.07917
|
40
|
.91571
|
.08429
|
41
|
.91030
|
.08970
|
42
|
.90457
|
.09543
|
43
|
.89855
|
.10145
|
44
|
.89221
|
.10779
|
45
|
.88558
|
.11442
|
46
|
.87863
|
.12137
|
47
|
.87137
|
.12863
|
48
|
.86374
|
.13626
|
49
|
.85578
|
.14422
|
50
|
.84743
|
.15257
|
51
|
.83674
|
.16126
|
52
|
.82969
|
.17031
|
53
|
.82028
|
.17972
|
54
|
.81054
|
.18946
|
55
|
.80046
|
.19954
|
56
|
.79006
|
.20994
|
57
|
.77931
|
.22069
|
58
|
.76822
|
.23178
|
59
|
.75675
|
.24325
|
60
|
.74491
|
.25509
|
61
|
.73267
|
.26733
|
62
|
.72002
|
.27998
|
63
|
.70696
|
.29304
|
64
|
.69352
|
.30648
|
65
|
.67970
|
.32030
|
66
|
.66551
|
.33449
|
67
|
.65098
|
.34902
|
68
|
.63610
|
.36390
|
69
|
.62086
|
.37914
|
70
|
.60522
|
.39478
|
71
|
.58914
|
.41086
|
72
|
.57261
|
.42739
|
73
|
.55571
|
.44429
|
74
|
.53862
|
.46138
|
75
|
.52149
|
.47851
|
76
|
.50441
|
.49559
|
77
|
.48742
|
.51258
|
78
|
.47049
|
.52951
|
79
|
.45357
|
.54643
|
80
|
.43659
|
.56341
|
81
|
.41967
|
.58033
|
82
|
.40295
|
.59705
|
83
|
.38642
|
.61358
|
84
|
.36998
|
.63002
|
85
|
.35359
|
.64641
|
86
|
.33764
|
.66236
|
87
|
.32262
|
.67738
|
88
|
.30859
|
.69141
|
89
|
.29526
|
.70474
|
90
|
.28221
|
.71779
|
91
|
.26955
|
.73045
|
92
|
.25771
|
.74229
|
93
|
.24692
|
.75308
|
94
|
.23728
|
.76272
|
95
|
.22887
|
.77113
|
96
|
.22181
|
.77819
|
97
|
.21550
|
.78450
|
98
|
.21000
|
.79000
|
99
|
.20486
|
.79514
|
100
|
.19975
|
.80025
|
101
|
.19532
|
.80468
|
102
|
.19054
|
.80946
|
103
|
.18437
|
.81563
|
104
|
.17856
|
.82144
|
105
|
.16962
|
.83038
|
106
|
.15488
|
.84512
|
107
|
.13409
|
.86591
|
108
|
.10068
|
.89932
|
109
|
.04545
|
.95455
|
(H)
If
When the individual
disagrees with the county auditor's determination of the fair market value of
the
physical property as described in paragraph
(G)(1) of this rule, the individual may have a licensed real estate broker
perform an appraisal of the property's value, which may be substituted as the
fair market value of the
physical property in
paragraph (G)(1) of this rule. Such appraisal services may be provided through
the use of administrative funds
if
when the individual is unable to obtain an appraisal
due to insufficient
personal funds
of his or her own.
(I) Administrative agency responsibilities.
The administrative agency shall:
(1) Determine
the effective date of the creation of a life estate.
(2) Accept the statements of persons holding
a remainder interest, or other persons who participated in the creation of the
life estate, only upon a finding that their statements are corroborated and
credible.
(3) Use the date of
recording as the effective date of the creation of the life estate
if
when the
individual fails to produce documentation verifying that the transfer occurred
on the date of signature.
(4) When
the life estate has not been recorded, the administrative agency shall request
that the individual verify transfer by recording the life estate and, unless
the life estate was created within the prior six months, provide documentation
as required in paragraph (F)(2) of this rule. When the individual does not
provide documentation that the life estate has been recorded, disregard the
life estate and consider the entire property as an available resource to the
individual.
Notes
Ohio Admin. Code
5160:1-3-05.17
Effective:
2/1/2024
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates:
11/15/2023 and
02/01/2029
Promulgated
Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 5160.02, 5163.02
Rule Amplifies: 5160.02, 5163.02
Prior Effective Dates:
09/03/1977, 02/01/1979, 10/01/1979, 01/03/1980, 07/01/1988 (Emer.), 09/01/1988,
01/01/1990 (Emer.), 04/01/1990, 04/01/1991 (Emer.), 06/17/1991, 09/01/1994,
11/07/2002, 10/01/2006, 11/01/2013, 11/02/2014,
09/01/2017