Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts in Westchester County, New York
Concerned about how future care costs could affect your home and savings? We help Westchester families evaluate Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, including what the trust can hold, what control changes, and when a transfer may affect eligibility. Start with a consultation at our Tarrytown office or by video.
Milvidskiy Law Group P.C. drafts these trusts and provides funding guidance from our Tarrytown office. Planning depends on your family’s circumstances and the assets involved. Local steps include signing in Tarrytown, recording deeds with the County Clerk in White Plains, and applying through the Westchester Department of Social Services when care is needed. Our advice reflects both local procedures and the rules governing a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust in New York.
Key Takeaways:
- Westchester home values often exceed New York’s Medicaid home equity limit of $1,130,000, which makes the family home the first asset to consider for a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust.
- The look-back clock starts when the deed is recorded with the Westchester County Clerk in White Plains, not when the trust is signed, so funding promptly matters.
- Second homes, co-ops, mortgaged homes, and couples where one spouse is already ill each call for a different version of the trust, and the local process differs for each.
The Family Home
New York exempts a Medicaid applicant’s home only up to a home equity limit, $1,130,000 for 2026, and many Westchester homes exceed that limit. Home equity is therefore an important consideration in Medicaid planning in Westchester County. Even a home under the limit is exposed after death, because Medicaid can recover benefits paid from the probate estate, and the house is usually the largest asset in it. Placing the home in a MAPT is designed to address both problems: once the look-back has run, the equity generally no longer counts against you, and the house passes to your children under the trust rather than through the Surrogate’s Court.
You keep the exclusive right to live in the home for life. That right is what generally allows your STAR benefit to continue after the transfer, as the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance confirms for trust beneficiaries who remain in the home. Local senior citizen and veterans exemptions administered by your town or city assessor generally continue as well, but each assessor has its own forms, so we notify the assessor for the municipality where the property sits after the deed is recorded. If you later sell and downsize, the trustee can sell the house and buy the new home inside the trust, and because the trust is a grantor trust for income tax purposes, the federal capital gains exclusion for a principal residence is generally preserved.
The Second Home
Many Westchester families also own a cottage on the Connecticut shore, a house in the Catskills, or a condominium in Florida. A second home is generally not exempt for Medicaid purposes, so it is often the first asset we recommend for the trust. Rental income from the property can continue to be paid to you as trust income. A property outside New York requires a deed prepared and recorded under that state’s law. We identify the local legal assistance needed to coordinate the transfer with your plan. We also review whether the property carries a mortgage, whether it is held in an LLC, and whether the trust should own the LLC interest instead of the real estate itself.
The Co-op or Condo
Condominiums generally transfer to a MAPT by deed, much like a house, subject to any notice or right-of-first-refusal provisions in the condominium documents. Cooperative apartments are different. You own shares and a proprietary lease, not real estate, and the cooperative corporation’s board must consent before the shares can be assigned to a trustee. Many boards will approve a transfer to a trust in which the shareholder keeps the right to occupy the unit, but they typically require the trust document, a trust rider or occupancy agreement, a personal guaranty from the beneficiaries, and a transfer fee. A co-op transfer requires a separate review of the proprietary lease, board requirements, financing, and the proposed trust. Ask us whether assistance with your particular co-op transfer is available before including it in the plan.
The Mortgaged Home
A mortgage is generally not a barrier. Federal law prevents a residential lender from calling the loan due when a borrower transfers the home into a lifetime trust, remains a beneficiary, and keeps the right to occupy the property, which is how a MAPT is typically drafted. We notify the lender of the transfer and confirm that the homeowner’s insurance policy lists the trustee. Home equity lines are reviewed separately, because some lenders freeze a line after a title change. A reverse mortgage requires particular care and, in most cases, payoff before or at the time of transfer.
The Couple Where One Spouse Is Already Ill
When one spouse has received a diagnosis such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, the family may need care before the five-year look-back period ends. A MAPT can still help plan for the other spouse’s future needs, which may arise after that period has passed. We often pair a MAPT holding the home and a portion of savings with other strategies for the ill spouse, including spousal refusal and the community spouse protections New York provides. The trust, the deed, and the powers of attorney must all be drafted to address any limits on the spouse’s ability to make decisions or sign documents; when capacity is in doubt, we address it before anything is signed. We coordinate Medicaid planning with elder law advice in Westchester County to address the income and resource rules that apply to the couple.
The Single Parent with Children Out of State
A widowed parent in Westchester whose children live in New Jersey, Connecticut, or across the country can still use a MAPT, and children who live outside New York can serve as trustees of these trusts. The trust must be signed by the grantor and by at least one trustee, so we coordinate the trustee’s signature by mail or at one of our other offices, or arrange for a local co-trustee. We identify the assets to transfer and guide the trustee through the funding steps. The trustee works with each financial institution to open or retitle accounts and meet its requirements. Where no child is available, our professional trustee services can fill the role.
Timeline: From First Meeting to Funded Trust
- Consultation and asset review. We identify which assets belong in the trust and which stay out, including enough liquid savings for your own comfort and emergencies.
- Drafting. The trust, the deed, the transfer tax return, and updated powers of attorney and health care proxies are prepared together.
- Signing in Tarrytown. The trust is signed and notarized under New York’s lifetime trust formalities, and the deed is signed at the same meeting. Video and phone meetings are available for planning, but the deed must be acknowledged before a notary.
- Recording and retitling. The deed is recorded in White Plains, accounts are retitled to the trustee, and the assessor and any lender or co-op board are notified.
- Ongoing administration. The trustee keeps trust funds separate, records income distributions, and handles annual tax reporting.
The look-back period for each asset begins on the date it is actually transferred: the recording date for real estate, the retitling date for accounts. Signing the trust alone does not protect assets that have not been transferred to it.
Recording the Deed with the Westchester County Clerk
Deeds for Westchester property are recorded with the Westchester County Clerk at 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in White Plains. The Clerk requires a Recording and Endorsement Cover Page generated through its Property Records Electronic Portal, known as PREP, along with the New York State transfer tax return (Form TP-584) and the Real Property Transfer Report (Form RP-5217), both created through the same system. A deed to your trust is a gift with no consideration, so no State transfer tax is ordinarily due, but the return is still filed. Recording fees apply. We prepare the package, submit it, and provide you with the recorded deed and the trust’s own copy for the file. Some Westchester municipalities impose their own transfer tax or filing requirement on certain conveyances, so we check the local rule for your property before recording.
Applying Through Westchester DSS
When care is eventually needed, nursing home Medicaid applications for Westchester residents are processed by the Westchester County Department of Social Services, whose Institutional Assistance Unit is located at 100 East 1st Street, 6th Floor, Mount Vernon. The district applies the 60-month look-back and calculates any transfer penalty using the Northern Metropolitan regional rate, which the State sets each year for Westchester and the surrounding counties and which is $15,024 a month for 2026. The caseworker will ask for the trust, the recorded deed, and account statements covering the entire look-back period, which is why careful trustee recordkeeping from day one pays off.
Home care is different. New York enacted a 30-month look-back for community-based long-term care in 2020, but the statute is subject to federal approval and has not been implemented. A funded MAPT can therefore currently support a home care application without waiting out a look-back. As a matter of practice, we draft trusts on the assumption that the community look-back will eventually take effect.
Discuss Your Long-Term Care Plan
We meet by appointment at our Tarrytown office, 120 White Plains Road, Suite 420, Tarrytown, NY 10591, as well as by video conference and phone. Contact us to schedule a consultation. We coordinate this work with estate planning, living trusts, and asset protection in Westchester County. We also assist clients elsewhere in the state with Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts in New York.
We discuss the work involved in trust planning, deeds, funding assistance, and any later Medicaid application. The engagement agreement identifies the services and fees for your matter.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change and figures are adjusted periodically. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the deed to my Westchester home recorded?
With the Westchester County Clerk at 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in White Plains. The Clerk requires a cover page, the State transfer tax return (Form TP-584), and the Real Property Transfer Report (Form RP-5217), all generated through its PREP system. We prepare and submit the full package and send you the recorded deed.
My home is worth well over New York's home equity limit. Does that change the plan?
It makes the home the priority. Equity above the limit, which is $1,130,000 for 2026, generally disqualifies an applicant from nursing home Medicaid until it is addressed, unless a spouse or a minor or disabled child lives in the home, and Westchester values often exceed it. Transferring the home to a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust removes the equity from the calculation once the look-back has run.
Do I need to tell my town or city assessor after the transfer?
Yes. STAR generally continues for a trust beneficiary who keeps living in the home and otherwise qualifies, and local senior and veterans exemptions generally continue as well, but each Westchester assessor has its own forms and deadlines. We notify the assessor after recording so that the exemptions can carry over to the trust’s ownership.
Can my co-op apartment go into the trust?
A co-op transfer requires a separate review of the proprietary lease, board requirements, financing, and the proposed trust. Ask us whether assistance with your particular co-op transfer is available before including it in the plan.
Where is a nursing home Medicaid application filed for a Westchester resident?
With the Westchester County Department of Social Services, whose Institutional Assistance Unit is at 100 East 1st Street, 6th Floor, Mount Vernon. The application will include the trust, the recorded deed, and account statements covering the full 60-month look-back, so the trustee’s records from the day the trust was funded become the core of the file.
Which regional rate does Westchester use to calculate a transfer penalty?
Westchester is in New York’s Northern Metropolitan region, and the State publishes a new monthly rate for that region each year. For 2026 the rate is $15,024 a month. If a transfer to the trust falls inside the look-back, the penalty period is the amount transferred divided by that rate.
My children live in New Jersey and Connecticut. Can they be trustees?
Yes. Children who live outside New York can serve as trustees. We explain the required signatures and coordinate the signing arrangements. We identify the assets to transfer and guide the trustee through the funding steps. The trustee works with each financial institution to open or retitle accounts and meet its requirements.
We also own a house in Connecticut. Can the trust hold it?
Yes, in most cases. A second home is generally not exempt for Medicaid purposes and is often the first asset we recommend for the trust. The Connecticut property is conveyed by a deed prepared and recorded under Connecticut law. We help New York clients coordinate an estate plan with property and family interests in other states. When another state’s law or local work is involved, we identify the additional legal assistance needed.
My spouse already needs care. Is it too late for a trust?
Not necessarily. A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is usually built for the healthy spouse’s future, so that the home and part of the savings can be protected by the time he or she needs care. For the ill spouse, we use other tools, including spousal refusal and New York’s community spouse protections. Capacity to sign must be confirmed before anything is executed.
Will the trust delay my home care application in Westchester?
Not at present. New York’s 30-month look-back for community-based long-term care was enacted in 2020 but is subject to federal approval and has not been implemented. Community Medicaid applications for home care are therefore not currently subject to a transfer review, though the law remains on the books and we draft trusts to work if it is later activated.
