Community Chat

[CatsyCline]

@goldensrbest   speaking with an eldercare attorney would be your first option here.  It sounds like an attempt  to circumvent the Medicaid 5 yr lookback (and in some cases 7yr lookback). Every state may handle things differently, but a Quit Claim Deed may be too little too late. 

[Carmie]

@goldensrbest   No.

If you go into a nursing home you have to pay for your own expenses out of pocket until you run out of money.

In PA, you can plan your funeral and prepay the funeral director and keep $8000 for yourself.

If you have assets, you must spend them down...that means YOU or a designated person must sell your house.  The nursing home doesn't take it.  You need to pay the nursing home with the profits.

If Medicaid paid for your nursing care while you owned a home, you will need to write out a check and send them every cent, but $8000.

The state will go back five years to see what happened to your money and your house, so you can't just sign things over or give them away to avoid the state from getting paid. I had to provide bank statements going back five years.

You will also be responsible for paying a monthly fee out of your pocket for your nursing home care  once the house is gone.  You will lose most of your SS check and monthly pension too.

i am POA for a Friend and she is now in a nursing home.  I had to sell her home and spend down the money in her savings account and prepay her funeral.  She has $8000 left. She pays for her care out of  her SS and a all of her pension check every month except for around $40.

Medicaid pays the rest of her stay and medical bills that Medicare doesn't cover.

I pay for her cell phone and clothing out of my pocket.

If you think you could end up in a nursing, I suggest you get an attorney who specialized in elder law ASAP.  If you wait too long you will lose everything.

[phoenixbrd]

@goldensrbest No, consult with your attorney.

[Love my grandkids]

@goldensrbest Carmie knows what she's talking about. 

[Mom2Dogs]

Dh and I just did this...our house was in his name only but the law in our state changed since we were married 40+ years ago.  My name is now on the title, along with his name.

If my husband would have died I would have had to purchase my 1/2 of the house.  Now upon death it automatically goes to the survivor.

[Mindy D]

@goldensrbest If the person is a Florida resident, only, we have a different deed here just for this purpose. It is called a Lady Bird Deed. The best course of action would be to consult with an attorney.

"Some people think, “I’ll just do a quit claim deed to get my house out of my name, then it is not counted against me.” Unfortunately, if you have done this within five years of your Medicaid application, that transfer would be considered a divestment, which would create a penalty period during which time Medicaid would not cover your nursing home care."

Quoted from

https://www.happylaw.com/2017/03/19/protecting-your-house-when-you-qualify-for-nursing-home-medicaid...

"A senior may be able to keep his or her home in the family either by adding a child's name to the deed at least five years before applying for Medicaid or by setting up an asset-protection trust before applying. This type of trust enables a person or couple to transfer some type of property, such as a home or cash-like assets, to another person to hold and manage for their benefit."

Quoted from

How to Pay for Nursing Home Costs

Medicare, Medicaid and other resources can help minimize the high cost of long-term care.

By David Levine and Lisa Esposito|

Oct. 15, 2021

[Jk9]

First of all:  this is absolutely a situation to discuss with an elder law attorney (I am one).  Each state has their own rules on eligibility for public nursing home benefits and there is absolutely NO one size fits all answer.  A quit claim deed is just a deed that transfers ownership in real property and is used in different situations.  You aren't quarantining clear title with a quit claim deed (in my state).  

If you have a question about a deed, that is one thing but a question about eligibility for Medicaid benefits is state specific and what anyone says here cannot apply to everyone.  

[aubnwa01]

My Quit Claim Deed Saga (sorry, it's long!):

My mother & I were both on the house title from when we bought the home in 1983, though I was always the one paying the mortgage, sicne she was only on SS.  By 1997, she was nearly 93, but still mentally quite sharp & unable to stay by herself while I was at work anymore & the social worker at her Dr.'s practice put us in touch with an elder law attorney. 

He was wonderful.  He did both of our wills & did a quit claim deed on the house title, since I had been caring for her in the home for enough years to qualify for this to be done w/o problem.  He specifically had to do this process when I was not at home, so there'd be no question of coercion on my part & that she was signing it of her own accord & free will. Then, he did a schedule of spending down her money on in-home care to get her qualified for Medicaid.  This took place over months-from June until Dec. of 1997. 

She had a number of physical problems & had swallowing problems & kept getting aspiration pneumonia, which her dr. would celar up & then, it would come back, plus she had CHF & was unable to walk anymore.  The day after Thanksgiving, I was helping her use the restroom & she just sort of faded & slumped over against the wall.  I was speaking to her & thought, "well, if this is it, it's peaceful", when she roused back up, so I got her on her bed & called 911.  The paramedics said her ox-sat was only 75%, so really low.   They took her to the hospital, where they got her halfway stable & then, she was transferred to a nursing home near home around Dec. 1st. She celebrated her 93rd birthday on Dec. 3rd in the nursing home.   Her health insurance covered the cost of the nursing home for however many days it was -I forget- & she had a chat with the dr. at the nursing home when I wasn't there & signed papers that she didn't want anything more done to prolong her life, no heroic measures or hospital visits.  This was on a Fri. & the dr. had told me on that Fri. night he thought she might last another 2 weeks, but she passed the following Tues. Dec 23rd & the last week of the nursing home was covered by Medicaid.

The elder law attorney was not cheap, but he was wonderful at navigating all the paperwork, etc. to make it as painless as possible & worth every penny.

[patbz]

Over the last couple of years there have been several extensive discussions about how to get around giving your house up to pay nursing home costs.  DH and I have tried to plan for this contingency by spending about $4000 yrly in Long Term Care Insurance.  We firmly believe that there is no free ride and that definitely includes nursing homes.  My parents structured their finances so that they were able to pay for 13 years of 24/7 in home nursing care as well as an additional 3 years for my Mom in a home ( what they did is called "self insuring"). A lot of what I've read on these threads is robbing others so you can avoid paying your fair share.

[elated]

A quit claim deed is a legal instrument that is used to transfer interest in real property. The entity transferring its interest is called the grantor, and when the quit claim deed is properly completed and executed, it transfers any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, called the guarantee. The owner/grantor terminates (quits) any right and claim to the property, thereby allowing the right or claim to transfer to the recipient/guarantee.