I am asking this question for a friend that has a sick husband and adult children. The wife has been given advice on this question. She was told you can't do this because the couple owns the home jointly. If this the law is there any other option possible? The husband has been sick for many years.
1. Will the home be "countable asset" for Medicaid eligibility purposes?
2. Will the home be a "recoverable" asset by the state after the demise of the Medicaid beneficiary?
3. Effective transfer to heirs.
Answers:
1. The homestead residence of a Medicaid applicant for long-term care services is almost always an exempt asset as long as the applicant has expressed an "intent to return" to the residence. In some states, like Florida, this is implied. In others, it must be indicated in some form. Some states do not consider a residence held in a revocable trust homestead property so this needs to be verified.
2. All states have a "Medicaid Estate Recovery" program charged with the mission of recovering assets at the demise of Medicaid beneficiaries. Most states will only pursue "probate assets", in other words, only those assets that are subject to probate. You are correct in that property titled in a revocable trust is not subject to probate (in most states) and therefore most likely not subject to estate recovery.
3. I believe this is handled in #2 above. I would only add that in some cases and in some states an Enhanced Life Estate Deed (Lady Bird Deed) may be more effective where it is permitted and other techniques are not effective with respect to other state specific issues as mentioned in #1 and #2 above.
A more relevant question may be: Why do they want to re-title the property thusly?
Thanks for being a good friend.
Carol