CONNECTICUT SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ISSUES FAVORABLE RULING IN VALLIERE v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SERVICES

February 12, 2018

The Court considered the relationship between General Statutes § 45a-655 (b) and (d)1 in determining whether a spousal support order previously rendered by the Probate Court was binding on the defendant, the Commissioner of Social Services (commissioner), when calculating the allowance that may be diverted to the support of the community spouse of a Medicaid eligible institutionalized person pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-5.  The Court ruled that the department failed to take advantage of its opportunity to seek appropriate relief in the Probate Court before an application for Medicaid was filed, therefore a Probate Court’s spousal support order, rendered pursuant to the plain and unambiguous language of § 45a-655, was binding upon the department. The trial court, therefore, properly sustained the plaintiffs’ administrative appeal.   You can read the full text of the opinion here VALLIERE v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SERVICES