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Can I sell and buy a cheaper house after he is admitted to the facility? I cannot afford this mortgage on my own.

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You need an attorney to sell the house. Why not find an elder law attorney. Ask if they can also do a house closure. This way, you will get the best advice from your state laws on how to split those assets to protect you in case he needs Medicaid
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Reply to MACinCT
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If staying in home, simply have hubs sign and then file/record a Quitclaim Deed with the county in which the property is located, which transfers his 1/2 interest of the property in your name. This will get him off the title of the property, and you will be the sole owner. If not staying, yes you can sell the house you are in but hubs will need to sign the closing documents, if he hasn't signed the Quitclaim Deed.
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Reply to Evonne1954
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igloo572 Jun 23, 2025
Quit Claim Deed can appear to be simple & easy & cheap DIY but they do not - DO NOT - guarantee valid Title exisits. It is a Warranty Deed which does that. QCD transfers what the individual thinks is their ownership; no guarantee. QCD releases the grantors interest, whether or not valid Title exists.
Plus if anticipating LTC Medicaid filing, that QCD title change is viewed as “gifting” of an asset. Gifting places a transfer of assets penalty unless a full 5 years before the date of LTC Medicaid application filing.

If securitization exists on property (mortgage, HELOC, lending using property as collateral) those still exist. The Grantor is still responsible for any mortgage. Doing a QCD doesn’t change that.

Doing a QCD can other trigger issues. Like if there is a mortgage, that change in title - due to the QCD - can trigger due-on-sale clause; or the lender can require credit worthiness to assume the loan. The Garn-St. Germain Act - that enables heirs to inherit a mortgage - does not exist for QCD title transferred property. For reverse mortgages, if the owner who did the QCD was the RM applicant, a QCD places loan out of compliance, so RM starts foreclosure process. RM are not assumable loans. If any tax exemptions exist based on the person who did the QCD, those go away.

Even if owned outright, QCD still poses problems due to title not “guaranteed” like a Warranty Deed is. If you need lending for renovations - eg a HELOC - or you want to use it as collateral, banks are real skittish on doing loans on QCD. If you want to sell the property, & the buyers themselves need to get a mortgage, that QCD is an issue for the mortgage lender. Banks / lenders want a Warranty Deed, with it’s inherent guarantee, so tend do a hard pass.

To get around this usually you end up having to do a Quiet Title Action. Quiet imho isn’t difficult but it is Real Estate attorney work as has a very set precise structure of Notices and filings done over a period of time. Usually a Quiet Title Action takes abt 6-10 months.

Quit Claim can work under some circumstances. But it can pose very serious issues later on. If Medicaid involved, please Please pls keep in mind the LTC Medicaid caseworker has basically an all-access pass to State / County/ City records, plus SSA, IRS and TALX database. If on any needs based programs before filing for LTC Medicaid, their info is in the PARIS database as well (Public Assistance Reporting Info System). Creative planning for LTC Medicaid is realistically done best by CELA level of elder & estate planning attorneys.
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Pbroughe: Retain an attorney.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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Estate recovery come after Medicaid stops. Most often when the recipient passes. You can sell the home, but it need to be fair market value. The state will try to take everything that is left of the Medicaid recipient when the Medicaid recipient passes. If you sell the home and buy another they will put a lean against it also to get back the money spent.
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Reply to dantrefethen
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Patathome01 Jul 6, 2025
I think that Medicaid recovers the assets after the owner passes away.
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If you sell your home just be aware that Medicaid has a 5 year look back period. So they will look at a home sale or if you were to put it in a family member’s name. As others have said, Medicaid doesn’t pay for assisted living, but will typically pay for nursing home care if the person qualifies medically and financially.
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Reply to Judidi
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chestershaba Jun 23, 2025
I think that's medi-cal. They can go after the house/estate.
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Most states allowed the spouse to stay in the home indefinitely, regarding sell and downgrade, better suited for elder law attorney.
Medicaid is considered a form of welfare intended for those with minimal assets.
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Reply to BluSky1
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It will all depend on the Medicaid estate recovery laws in the state where mom receives Medicaid. Consult an elder law attorney in mom’s current state. Go to www.naela.org and enter the city and state or zip code in the “find an attorney” section to find an elder law attorney who can give you competent advice for mom’s state. Hire attorney to give you colorectal advice for an hour or two.
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Reply to ElderCareAtty
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ElderCareAtty Jun 22, 2025
Correction: “correct advice”, not “colorectal advice.” Damn autocorrect.
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It's best to contact an attorney before taking action. Please read what our forum experts advise. Thank you for reaching out.
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Reply to Patathome01
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This depends on many factors, all of which require the assessment of an attorney. Take all deeds and other asset lists to an elder law attorney and find out options for estate protection for yourself.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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These answers are confusing. Too many acronyms!
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Reply to Kartyjb
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cover9339 Jun 23, 2025
Lol
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Geaton
Medicaid does pay for ALF in some situations and more so in some states vs others.

Igloo just wrote a long explanation on the details of it on a recent post.

PB

It is helpful if you list your state.

In SOME states, maybe all, when a husband goes into care, and there is a CS, community spouse, that’s you PB, through Medicaid, then the assets are divided in a manner that allows the CM to continue living in the community. A portion of your husbands SS could go to you to help pay the mortgage as an example.


A certified elder law attorney can help you with this. A portion of your husbands income can be used to help pay the mortgage or whatever is necessary up to a point. There is a limit.

Medicaid requires a person to be financially in need and to be physically at need.

You need an attorney well versed in medicaid for your state that understands the Medicaid laws. Especially when there is a spouse. The attorney may indeed advise you to sell the house if that’s your choice but would protect your interests by advising you of the necessary steps and in what order. There are many many factors involved.
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Reply to 97yroldmom
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igloo572 Jun 18, 2025
GEaton, that HCBS is another type of Medicaid waiver. It’s Home & Community Based Services waiver…. so it’s pulling funding from a slightly different funding source. hCBS is different from LTC Medicaid as LTC is a dedicated Federal funding source for those at need medical and financially for custodial care in a SNF aka a NH. For LTC, all the States have to participate in although each State administers it uniquely. But a State can ask for a waiver to shift some of the dedicated LTC $ for the same at need demographic. HBCS isn’t dedicated Federal funding, rather its appropriations based funding.

To add more intertwining to all this, LTC funding waivers - like to pay for AL - can also use HCBS $ to cover some aspects of AL activities. One that is done lots is having flu and pneumonia shots done by a Community based funding care team…. the shot is billed to health insurance but the staffing & administration paid for out of HBCS waiver $ for community outreach programs.

HCBS does IHHS in home healthcare services and pays for some extraordinary costs for those in a PACE program that are not directly paid for by Medicare and not billable to Medicaid as an individuals health insurance. Also some States do not count HCBS as a required attempt to be recoverable under MERP but other States do.

There are a ton of waivers, it hard 2 know which waiver is which.

An issue on Medicaid that I’m salty about, is that if you are on Med acid, you do not see a bill 99.9% of the time. Doesn’t matter what type of Medciaid…. Paying for custodial care via LTC, paying for IHHS via HCBS or paying for kids preventive dental via CHiPS. Provider bills Medicaid. Onky if it cocks up and doesn’t get paid, do you get a bill.
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