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determining Kimberly’s Medicaid eligibility. This meant that if
the insurance coverage she had through her parents lapsed, she
would have to spend all or nearly all of the Management Trust’s
assets. The Hickses’ attorneys came up with the apparently novel
(or at least untried in any reported decision that we could find)
idea of having Clyde fund a substantial part of this trust with a
loan of $1 million to be allocated to him from the settlement.
The loan would be evidenced by a promissory note from the
Management Trust to him and would pay interest at 6% per annum,
slightly less than Society National expected to earn from
investing the Management Trust’s corpus. The note was not
amortizing, and was callable on demand in only two circumstances
--Kimberly’s death or her failure “to have available at
reasonable premium charges a commercial medical indemnity
contract” once she turned eighteen.
The Hickses and their lawyers did not have the final say
about this. Local probate courts have jurisdiction under Ohio
law to review and approve the settlement, allocation, and
distribution of noneconomic compensatory damages in civil cases.
5(...continued)
did not discuss how it was that Kimberly’s parents could be
regarded as ever having possession of this $450,000. If this
initial corpus came from Kimberly herself, it is conceivable that
it might have counted as her own asset for purpose of Medicaid
eligibility. See 42 U.S.C. 1396p(d). On the estate tax return,
this original corpus was listed as estate property. See infra,
p.10.
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