What's Medicaid Impact If Mom Adds Name on House Deed?

by Bill P.
(Michigan )

Question:

Mom's on medicaid in a nursing home. Can she add a name on her deed to her house and on the title to her car? Or would that get her kicked off medicaid?

Answer:

Adding a name on her deed will be treated as a transfer of an interest in the house, i.e., a gift, to the person whose name was added. That would result in a penalty period for Medicaid--not Medicare--purposes, if she applied for Medicaid within the next five years.

Since a car is an exempt asset, adding another name to the car's title is a good idea, since it could avoid the state recoupment after mom's death in those states that only claim against the probate estate. While the house is also an exempt asset, different rules apply to gifts of an interest in a house, which is why there is a penalty attached to such gifts of an interest in the home.

You can read more about this at Medicaid Secrets.