Roselyn Ford v. Department of Health and Human Services

**237In these consolidated cases, the individual plaintiffs1 were elderly women receiving long-term care in nursing homes. In each case, the plaintiff, an "institutionalized spouse,"2 began receiving long-term care *574at a nursing home at her own expense. One **238to two months later, each plaintiff's husband, a "community spouse,"3 created an irrevocable trust that was solely for his own benefit. Such a trust is commonly called a "solely for the benefit of," or "SBO," trust.4 The couples then transferred a majority of their individual and marital property to each SBO trust or its trustee,…