Your state's pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Pennsylvania T&E solo who knows Title 20 cold but still loses an afternoon a week tracking the moving Medical Assistance pieces — and who plans around a state with no TOD deed and no homestead exemption but a probate-only recovery program.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments I think actually matter to a Pennsylvania T&E solo. Each has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each comes with a reachable citation so you can verify it yourself before you use it with a client.
Under Act 49 of 1994, 62 P.S. § 1412 and 55 Pa. Code Ch. 258, DHS recovers only against probate-estate property of recipients 55+; jointly owned and beneficiary-designated assets generally pass outside recovery.
This is the structural fact a Pennsylvania Medicaid plan is built around. Keeping the home out of probate — via a funded revocable trust, joint-with-survivorship title, or a life-estate deed — is the recovery play. The malpractice trap is the unfunded trust that leaves the home in the probate estate.
62 P.S. § 1412 (Act 49 of 1994); 55 Pa. Code Ch. 258 · pacodeandbulletin.gov
Pennsylvania does not authorize a transfer-on-death deed for real property (a death-effective deed is treated as testamentary), and it has no general homestead exemption; tenancy by the entirety is the principal residence-protection device for married owners.
Don't draft a TOD deed PA won't recognize. To keep the home out of the probate estate (and thus out of recovery), use a funded trust, joint-with-survivorship title, or a life-estate deed — and lean on tenancy by the entirety for creditor protection during life.
PA: no TOD-deed statute; no state homestead exemption · pa.gov / nolo.com
Maximum CSRA is $162,660 (minimum $32,532); the single-applicant resource limit is $2,000; Pennsylvania applies the $752,000 home-equity limit.
Two places this lands: community-spouse protection math and high-value-home clients. Flag the 2028 OBBBA $1,000,000 flat home-equity cap now.
42 U.S.C. § 1396p · CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
Decisions that bind a Pennsylvania practitioner — the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Superior Court, and the Commonwealth Court, the U.S. District Courts in Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
A nursing-home resident applied for Medical Assistance long-term-care benefits through his daughter and the facility. The county assistance office asked him to verify the source of two unexplained bank deposits; the parties stipulated to a deadline with denial as the penalty for non-compliance. His representative submitted a handwritten self-attestation for one deposit, left the other “still unknown,” and produced the supporting check only after the deadline. The Commonwealth Court affirmed denial. The applicant bears the burden of establishing eligibility, and Medicaid is “the payor of last resort”; under 55 Pa. Code § 178.3, verification of resources “is required of an applicant/recipient or the person acting on his behalf including, but not limited to, guardians and trustees,” proven by specified documentary evidence. A self-attestation does not satisfy that mandatory scheme, and the late-filed check did not cure the default, so denial — including the loss of retroactive coverage — was proper.
Treat verification as documentary and the CAO deadline as a hard cutoff. In Pennsylvania LTC cases, every dollar of unexplained account activity must be backed by bank statements, titles, or written institution statements — a family member’s or trustee’s affidavit will not clear § 178.3, and missing a stipulated deadline forfeits eligibility and retroactive benefits. Pull five years of statements and source-of-deposit proof before you file, and calendar every CAO verification date as a drop-dead.
Kimmel v. Department of Human Services, No. 1552 C.D. 2022 (Pa. Commw. Ct. May 18, 2026) (reported) · official opinion — pacourts.us
This week in Pennsylvania for the T&E solo with Medical Assistance-planning clients: what the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the PBA Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, and PA DHS put in front of you.
The bar CLE calendar, the DHS estate-recovery updates, and the federal standards all publish on different schedules. This is that sift, already done, with the link on each item.