Parent has to go on Medicaid. What happens to the home?

Exempt assets are those which Medicaid will not take into account (at least for the time being). In general, the following are the primary exempt assets:
•The Home, no matter its value. The home must be the principal place of residence. The nursing home resident may be required to show some "intent to return home" even if this never actually takes place.
•Household and Personal Belongings such as furniture, appliances, jewelry and clothing.
•One Car, there may be some limitation on value.
•Burial Plot for you and your spouse.
•Cash Value of Life Insurance policies as long as the face value of all of policies added together does not exceed $ 1,500. If it does exceed $ 1,500 in total face amount, then the cash value in these policies is countable.
•Cash (e.g., a small checking or savings account) not to exceed $ 1,500 in Ohio.
Medicaid will ask for five years of financial documents to be sure nothing is hidden or given away.

You can go to your state's website about Medical Assistance/Medicaid and read the info, but in a nutshell, if you have lived in the home for at least 2 years prior to the Medicaid application, you can claim hardship were the home to be sold, regardless of its fair market value. To be totally up on the latest information for your state, you really do have to go look it up. Or talk to someone at the local area agency on aging who can probably quote the rule word for word.