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She does not derive any income from this property.

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Her % of ownership would be viewed as her asset as the property in & of itself has an assessed value.

But the critical issue would be IF the property is viewed as an EXEMPT ASSET (which your primary home is considered, as is a family farm or ranch) for Medicaid. If it can be viewed as an exempt asset then no real worries on Medicaid, but you would still have to deal with it for a possible MERP (Medicaid Estate Recovery Program) claim or lein on the property after mom's death. But if is is considered a NON-EXEMPT asset for Medicaid, then the value of her % will have to be done as a part of her "spend-down".

I think it's prudent to assume that it will be viewed as non-exempt so start getting the documents on the property....that would be the deed of trust on the property, the last couple of tax assessor statements, and whatever else you can get together to prove the true value of the property. If the assessor value is high, then you can challenge it. I did this on my mom;s property several years ago and had it taken down significantly due to foundation issues. Most assessor statement have the steps for challenging the determination on the reverse of the statement. You may have to get an appraisal done on the property to make this work. A good Realtor who actually closes deals in the neighborhood of the property would be somene to contact to get names of appraisers. If medicaid application is imminent then you don;t have alot of options on what to do with the property as all property stuff is recorded and in the state records. So doing a quit claim or other transfer will show up and you will face a transfer penalty. If the property has lots of owners involved and has not gone through probate ever (like the property has just been passed down without legal really done), there may not be any significant value to the property or may be so convoluted that it is hard to figure out a value.

Oh also see if you can go on-line to your Chancery clerks office and download all the legal on the property. You may want to go back years or decades - it will be inexpensive to do on your own. If over a decade or so, they will need to research it and mail it to you. It is there but by parcel # - the parcel # will be on the assessor statement. This # is mucho importante as it is the key to finding the property in the system. Good luck and let us know what you find out.
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CarolL - your spot-on about it needing to be a primary residence. They just need to maintain it as their address on their drivers license/ ID and keep filing for their homestead exemption (even if they move to IL, AL or NH) and need to to an annual "I wanna return home" letter. Most states do this for the lifetime of the person, but some states apparently only allow 6 months.

It can be a family farm or family ranch or that the home is the site of the family business.
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Excellent answer. If you have a lawyer, speak with her/him about these for advice in the particular state.
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igloo - tova just refers to this as a real property deed...can't tell from that description if this is some kind of land, improved property or property with a house on it. To be considered Medicaid EXEMPT, wouldn't mom have to be living there as her primary residence before any placement in alternative living arrangements?
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