Yes, under most circumstances. We get this question quite frequently and there are a few things to cover:
- If your spouse is on long-term care Medicaid (mostly, for the spouse in the nursing home or assisted living facility), you can own a home up to any value
- If you sell the home, Medicaid will not take any of the proceeds
- If/when you sell the home, you generally cannot leave the proceeds joint with the spouse in the nursing home
- One year after getting Medicaid, the countable assets needs to be removed from the joint names and into the names of the community spouse. This does not include the homestead property as that is a non-countable asset.
- Generally, all the the home sale proceeds could/should be placed into the community spouse's name (see above)
- This could be problematic if spousal refusal was done as a part of the Medicaid application
- A gift between spouses is not an issue unless spousal refusal is done
- Gifts between spouses does not create a Medicaid transfer penalty
What if you sell your home with your spouse on Medicaid?
This is fine. The key is that the once Medicaid has been obtained, the community spouse's assets are to allowed exceed the community spouse resource allowance (about $156,000 in 2024).
Anything else to know?
You would definitely want/need to consult with an elder law attorney in this situation. The matters to cover:
- Does the community spouse buy a new home and how should it be titled?
- What does the community spouse's last will and testament say?
- Should the community spouse create a special needs trust in their last will and testament? (Generally, yes)
- Does the sale of the home affect the spousal diversion?
If you or your loved one is looking into long-term care Medicaid, please feel free to download my book, Your Guide to Florida Long-Term Care Medicaid!
This page goes into a little more detail than this webpage on home sale and Medicaid.
