Weddings Redefined

MassHealth views the couple’s combined assets in order to determine eligibility, so if the healthier spouse has significant personal wealth, he or she will need to spend down countable assets until they total less than approximately $112,000 (not including a home worth less than $750,000) in order for the less healthy spouse to qualify for coverage.

On the other hand, if the couple’s combined countable assets are $112,000 or less, the spouse in need of long-term care will qualify for MassHealth.  If the couple were not considered married for the purposes of MassHealth, the spouse in need of care would have to spend down to $2,000 before he or she would qualify and would not be able to transfer any assets to a non-married partner.

Generally, if an individual were to transfer assets to someone other than a spouse within 5 years of applying for MassHealth coverage, he or she would be subject to a disqualification period of 1 day for every $267 transferred.  Since same-sex marriages are recognized, spouses are allowed to transfer assets between themselves freely without incurring a disqualification period. 

Coupled with Federal gift tax law, however, transferring assets between same-sex spouses may still incur tax liability.  An individual can transfer $13,000 per year to any person, but when significant asset transfers are on the line, taxes may be imposed.  Each person can transfer up to $1,000,000 in a lifetime, but each gift made during life is deducted from that total.  While the Federal government provides that “married” persons can transfer assets freely between one another without gift tax liability, this applies only to opposite-sex spouses as a matter of Federal law.