Romanelli v. Dept. of Social Services

Citations

• 226 Conn. App. 131

Syllabus

The plaintiff, the executor of the estate of R, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court dismissing the plaintiff's appeal from the decision of the defendant, the Department of Social Services, denying R's application for long-term Medicaid benefits. R and the plaintiff estab- lished a trust for which they were both the grantors and the beneficiaries. Pursuant to the terms of the trust, R and the plaintiff retained the right to withdraw the trust property, which included certain real property in Old Lyme, and to revoke the agreement so long as they were not incapacitated. R was later admitted to a long-term care facility and applied for long-term care Medicaid benefits. The defendant sent a written request to R's authorized representative, indicating that the defendant had determined that the Old Lyme property was owned by the trust and asking for verification of ownership in the event that its determination was incorrect. R's representative did not provide any information in response to the request, either disputing the ownership of the Old Lyme property or arguing that it should not be included in the determination of R's Medicaid eligibility. R died, and, a few months later, the defendant denied R's application for Medicaid benefits because the value of his assets exceeded the program's eligibility limit. M, the plaintiff's attorney, filed an administrative appeal from the denial of the application, claiming that the defendant improperly had included the trust assets in its calculation of R's eligibility because R was incapable of revoking the trust to access its assets. At the administrative hearing, M testified and submitted an affidavit, the substance of which was that R was not competent to revoke the trust. The defendant's hearing officer concluded that M's affidavit was not sufficient evidence to make a determination regarding R's mental capacity and, accordingly, that the defendant properly denied R's application because, in light of the