After determining that there was no way for us to buy Mom's car (which she can't drive anymore) from her without making her disqualified for Medicaid, I read around a bit and got this idea. It seems almost tortuously complex, but here goes:
Mom creates an irrevocable trust in her state of Idaho. She transfers the title of the car to the trust. She names my husband and the trustee and me as the beneficiary. Once the title is transfered to the trust, my husband the trustee registers the car here in Utah to look after and maintain it and to insure it under our auto insurance policy. When Mom passes away (which should not be any time soon :) ) the car legally becomes mine. In the meantime, we can use the car.
Since the car is in an irrevocable trust, Medicaid should not come after Mom for the value of the vehicle since she is not benefitting from it, as I understand it.
Any thoughts on whether this is do-able?
I am not experienced with MERP when it comes to cars. I hope someone more knowledgeable about that will be along soon. Knowing a bit about the age and value of the car would help. If it is a Kia, it's one thing; if it's a Rolls, it's another.