## Facts

- Regina Louise Brewer inherited corporate stock in her own name after her husband’s death.
- In 1994, Brewer had the stock reissued in the names of Brewer and two nieces as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
- The nieces provided no consideration and did not contribute to acquiring or maintaining the stock.
- By 2001, Brewer was a nursing home resident and applied for Medicaid long-term care benefits; the stock was worth about $33,000.
- The nieces refused to consent to a voluntary sale, preventing liquidation through ordinary means.
- The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) denied benefits, treating the joint stock as an available, countable resource that exceeded the Medicaid resource limit.
- At a fair hearing, SRS maintained that Brewer (through her attorney-in-fact) could pursue partition or similar legal action to realize the stock’s value; the hearing officer affirmed the denial.
- On judicial review, the district court reversed, reasoning that partition-type litigation would likely be too costly and unlikely to succeed.
- SRS appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court.

## Issues

1. Whether Brewer’s joint tenancy interest in the stock was an “available resource” countable for Medicaid eligibility under Kansas regulations.
2. Whether an applicant must pursue reasonable legal remedies (including litigation) to liquidate or realize value from jointly held property before the asset may be treated as unavailable.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court reversed the district court and reinstated the agency’s denial of benefits.
- The court held the joint tenancy stock was an available resource for Medicaid eligibility purposes.
- The court held Brewer had a duty to attempt reasonable legal action to liquidate or realize her interest and did not prove such action would be unreasonable or cost-prohibitive.

## Legal Principles

- A resource is “available” for Medicaid purposes when the applicant has an ownership interest and legal authority to convert the asset to cash, including by initiating appropriate legal proceedings.
- A co-owner’s refusal to consent to liquidation does not, by itself, make the resource unavailable; the applicant must show reasonable efforts to overcome the impediment would be futile or unduly burdensome.
- Kansas law presumes equal ownership among joint tenants, but the presumption may be rebutted by evidence that one joint tenant provided the consideration for the asset.
- The Medicaid applicant bears the burden to produce concrete evidence that required legal steps to liquidate an asset would be unreasonable, including proof that likely costs would exceed the applicant’s realizable interest.
- Courts give weight to a reasonable agency interpretation of the agency’s own Medicaid regulations unless clearly erroneous.

## Conclusion

The court treated Brewer’s jointly titled stock as a countable Medicaid resource because she retained a substantively enforceable interest and the legal ability to seek liquidation, and she failed to prove that pursuing reasonable legal remedies to access the value would be economically irrational or futile.


Brewer v. Schalansky, 278 Kan. 734, 102 P.3d 1145 (Kan. 2004)