Funeral Agreements Funeral Agreement A contract in which money is - - PDF document

Funeral Agreements

Funeral Agreement

• A contract in which money is paid to a

funeral director in return for furnishing specified services and/or merchandise upon the death of the person to whom the contract pertains

Funeral Agreement cont'd.

• Two types:

– Irrevocable – Revocable

• Includes:

– Burial spaces – Non-burial space monies

Irrevocable Funeral Agreements

Irrevocable

• Effective 1/1/97 only available to Medicaid
• r SSI A/Rs
• Effective 1/1/2011 available to Medicaid or

SSI A/Rs and their immediate family members when purchased by an A/R or his/her spouse

Irrevocable cont'd.

• Immediate family members include SSI-

related A/Rs:

– spouse – minor and adult children, – stepchildren and adoptive children, – brothers and sisters, – parents and adoptive parents, and – the spouses of these persons.

• Cannot be “refunded”
• Exempt regardless of value
• Balance after burial returned to LDSS

MA Treatment of Irrevocable

• Funds used to purchase an Irrevocable

agreement for an A/R’s family member

• ther than a spouse are countable

resources for the A/R until the month following the month in which the funds are actually paid to a funeral director

MA Treatment of Irrevocable, cont’d. MA Treatment of Irrevocable, cont’d.

• Retroactive Eligibility

– Can be obtained by spending down excess resources on a funeral agreement for the A/R

• r the A/R’s spouse

– Cannot be obtained by spending down excess resources on a funeral agreement for a family member

Revocable Funeral Agreements

MA Treatment of Revocable

• Can be “refunded”
• Only type of funeral agreement available

before 1/1/97

A/R’s Revocable Established Prior to Medicaid Application

• Can convert to Irrevocable OR
• Only non-burial space monies up to

$1,500 exempt

– Burial spaces not exempt

NOTE: If A/R’s revocable established before 1/1/97 and if A/R began receiving Medicaid before 1/1/97 with no break in coverage: see MRG Resources pgs 366 and 366.1

Burial Funds

Burial Funds

• Any liquid resource that an individual

chooses to officially acknowledge as a fund for the purpose of burial

Burial Funds cont'd.

• Can not commingle funds
• Has to officially acknowledge funds as

“Burial Fund”

– Access NY Supplement A (DOH-4495A/DOH-5178A) or – Burial Reserve Acknowledgement (DSS-3827) or – Written statement

Burial Funds cont'd.

• Maximum of $1,500 disregard for burial

fund ($3,000 for a couple)