Every Missouri Medicaid application stands or falls on documentation. Below is the exact checklist our office works from — the same one we hand our own clients.

You are welcome to print it and use it, whether or not you ever call us.

🖨 Print this checklist

Personal identification

• Driver’s license or state ID — applicant (and spouse, if married)
• Social Security cards — applicant (and spouse)
• Birth certificate — applicant (and spouse)
• Death certificate for a deceased spouse
• Marriage certificate

Legal documents

• Financial Power of Attorney for the applicant

This one matters more than any other document on the list. Without it — and without the ability to sign one now — no family member automatically has authority to act. Find it early.

Financial accounts and statements

• Bank statements for the past 4 months (last 3 months plus current) — every account: checking, savings, CDs — applicant and spouse
• Credit union statements, past 4 months — applicant and spouse
• IRA and retirement account statements — applicant and spouse
• Stocks, bonds, or proof of any other investments — applicant and spouse
• Trust documents — including a list of trust assets, dates of transfer into the trust, and current values

Income

• Social Security “Benefits Letter” — must be for the current year
• Benefits letters for pension, veterans, or other retirement income — applicant and spouse

Healthcare and nursing home

• Medicare cards — front and back — applicant and spouse
• Medical insurance ID cards — front and back — applicant and spouse
• The nursing home bill
• Nursing home patient trust account statement

Property and assets

• Deeds for any real estate owned
• For the personal residence: tax bills and mortgage statement
• Titles for vehicles, trailers, boats, motors, and similar
• Life insurance policies — statements showing cash value and death benefit — applicant and spouse
• Prepaid funeral or burial paperwork — applicant and spouse

Expenses

• Documentation of premiums for Medicare supplement insurance, Medicare Part B, Part D, or a Medicare Advantage plan — applicant and spouse
• Utility and phone bills for the past 3 months — married couples only (these support a higher income allowance for the spouse at home)

Special circumstances

• Military service information
• If an immigrant: Certificate of Naturalization or Alien Registration Card — applicant and spouse

Why this list is so long

Missouri verifies five years of financial history. Every account, every transfer, every deed, every policy. The Family Support Division does not take a family’s word for what happened; it takes statements.

Most denials we see are not eligibility problems — they are documentation problems. A missing statement, an unexplained withdrawal, a deed nobody could find. The application gets denied or delayed, the facility keeps billing, and the family starts again from the beginning.

You do not have to do this alone

Our office prepares and files the application, gathers this documentation, responds to the Family Support Division’s requests and notices, and handles the annual renewal afterward. For most families, that alone is worth the conversation — and in many cases there is also a substantial amount that can be legally protected in the process.

Are we a fit? Take the 9-question assessment

Or call us: (573) 334-5125
frontdesk@capegirardeaulaw.com

This checklist is general information and not legal advice; using it does not make you a client of the Law Office of Mark McMullin. Requirements vary by case and the Family Support Division may request additional documentation. Please speak with an elder law attorney before transferring, gifting, or spending down assets.