There are all sorts of reasons why a person may want to hide his assets. For example, the cost of a nursing home is exorbitant and could eat up a person’s entire estate leaving nothing for the inheritance. To hide assets and let Medicare and or Medicaid help foot the nursing home’s bill, a person can transfer his estate to his child and thus protected his child’s inheritance from the nursing home. If I’m not mistaken, this transfer has to be in effect at least five years before admittance to the nursing home otherwise the nursing home can go after the estate.
Today’s daf
TB Ketubot 79 shows the correct procedure how a woman may hide her nikhsay
makug (נִכְסֵי מְלוֹג) assets from
her husband and reclaim her property in the event of her marriage termination
either by husband’s death or divorce. The topic is introduced with a story.
“The Gemara relates: There was a
certain woman who was about to remarry after she was divorced or widowed, who
sought to distance the rights to her property from her future husband.
She therefore wrote a document stipulating that her property be
given as a gift to her daughter before marriage. Ultimately, the
daughter was married and then divorced. She wanted her daughter
to return the property, and her daughter claimed that it was given to her as a
gift. The mother came before Rav Naḥman for judgment. Rav Naḥman tore
the document, accepting her claim that she did not intend to transfer
ownership of her property.
“Rav Anan went before Mar Ukva, the Exilarch, and said
to him: Let the Master observe Naḥman the farmer, how he tears
people’s documents. Rav Anan was upset that Rav Naḥman destroyed a
legitimate document. Mar Ukva said to him: Tell me, please, what was the
actual incident?
“Rav Anan said
to Mar Ukva: This and that transpired; i.e., he apprised him of all
the details. Mar Ukva said to him: Are you saying it was a document
of evasion? This is what Rav Ḥanilai bar Idi said that Shmuel
said: I am an authority who issues rulings and have issued the
following directive: If a document of evasion comes to my hand, I will tear
it, as it is clear that it was not intended for the actual transfer of
property but merely to distance it from someone else.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
Shmuel is saying that when examining
a document of evasion, a person needs to look at the intent of the document and
not just what’s written therein. One should not think that the mother’s intent
was really to gift the estate to her daughter because “Rav Naḥman replied: Even so, where
her interests clash with those of her daughter, her own interests are
preferable to her, and therefore she did not intend to waive her rights.” (Sefaria.org translation) Interesting, Rashi comments that
the woman testifies in front of witnesses that this document is a document of
evasion so her husband cannot use the nikhsay makug.
The Gemara provides the correct
language for this document. “She writes to him in the document
that the gift is granted from today and the gift is in effect only while
I still wish to give it. In that case, if the one to whom she gave
the gift comes to take possession of it, she can say that she no longer wants
to give the gift and can thereby invalidate the document….the ruling that the
document of evasion is void, is in a case where the document was written about
all of the property, as clearly a person does not give away all his
property as a gift and leave himself with nothing.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Today
I suggest you consult a lawyer when you want to hide assets. You really need to
protect yourself for all contingencies. I heard a terrible story that an
elderly man transferred his entire estate to his daughter assuming that she
would use the estate for his benefit as well as protect his daughter’s inheritance
if he needs to go into a nursing home. Unfortunately the daughter died before
her father. Of course, her husband inherited everything the daughter owned. Then
son-in-law took the money and ran and basically abandoned his father-in-law leaving
the father penniless.
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