What happens to my mom's house if she goes into a nursing home?

Asked by: Dax Ferry  |  Last update: September 29, 2025
Score: 4.3/5 (10 votes)

Can a Nursing Home Take Your House? Nursing homes cannot take a person's home or require them to sell it to pay for care. However, people who use Medicaid to cover nursing home costs are at risk of their home being seized by the government upon their death to reimburse the expenses.

What happens to your parents' house when they go to a nursing home?

Your home will be liquidated through your estate. If no will, then everything goes to the State in a nursing home or not unless an heir would lay claim to it. Just know the nursing would be first in line to get paid.

Will I lose my house if I go into a nursing home?

Nursing homes do not take houses. Medicaid applicants are allowed to own a house and a car. After the recipient dies, the state can recover its costs from the sale of the house. An exception would be if a child or grandchild has lived in the house as a caregiver for at least two years.

Can a nursing home take my parents home?

The nursing home cannot TAKE THE HOME, they can however essentially evict a person who runs out of money. The patient must apply for Medicaid and the home must be one that has Medicaid beds. They cannot take the home if the spouse is still living in the home. There are laws to protect the 'community spouse'.

Will a trust protect my assets if I go into a nursing home?

A revocable living trust will not protect your assets from a nursing home. This is because the assets in a revocable trust are still under the control of the owner. To shield your assets from the spend-down before you qualify for Medicaid, you will need to create an irrevocable trust.

What Happens to Mom's Home When She Goes Into a Nursing Home

31 related questions found

How to avoid nursing home taking your house?

7 Ways to Protect Your Home From Being Taken
  1. Purchase Long-Term Care Insurance. ...
  2. Sell or Transfer Assets. ...
  3. Create a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. ...
  4. Choose Home Health Instead. ...
  5. Form a Life Estate. ...
  6. Purchase a Medicaid-Compliant Annuity. ...
  7. Pay With Your Life Insurance Policy.

Can a nursing home take your inheritance?

Other states, such as California and Texas, prohibit Estate Recovery after the surviving spouse dies. The only exception is if the surviving spouse was also a Medicaid recipient.

What happens to your bills when you go into a nursing home?

If you have existing unpaid medical bills, and go into a nursing home and receive Medicaid, the program may allow you to use some or all of your current monthly income to pay the old bills, rather than just to be paid over to the nursing home, providing you still owe these old medical bills and you meet a few other ...

Does a nursing home take all your assets?

If the patient has long term care insurance, that insurance will pay for a portion or all of the cost for the term of the policy. No one “takes” assets from the patient; the nursing home simply requires payment for its services if the patient intends to reside in the nursing home.

Can I sell my mom's house if she is in a nursing home?

If a parent has become incapacitated, he or she needs to have identified – through a power of attorney – someone who can act on their behalf, for the sale to take place. If the caregiver has no legal authority, then the caregiver has absolutely no right to sell the home.

Will Medicare take my house if I go into a nursing home?

Can Medicare take your home to cover nursing home expenses? Medicare can't take your home and doesn't cover nursing home room and board. However, a Medicaid lien can be placed on your home, and they can sell it once you pass to recover the funds.

What happens when you run out of money in a nursing home?

If you have no money, Medicaid is often the primary option for covering nursing home costs. Other potential solutions include: Veterans Benefits: Veterans and their spouses may qualify for financial assistance. Reverse Mortgages: Seniors who own their homes may use a reverse mortgage to cover nursing home expenses.

Should you sell a home before or after moving into senior living?

One of the biggest reasons many older adults decide to sell their home before they move is to help finance their choice of senior living. If your parents have built up a lot of equity in their home, it's most likely their largest asset and the proceeds may open up more senior living options than they'd otherwise have.

How to protect parents' assets from nursing homes?

  1. Why protect assets from nursing home costs and Medicaid? ...
  2. 6 ways to protect assets from nursing home costs. ...
  3. Purchase long-term care insurance. ...
  4. Purchase a Medicaid-compliant annuity. ...
  5. Form a life estate. ...
  6. Put your assets in an irrevocable trust. ...
  7. Consider financial gifts to family members.

Does Medicare pay for nursing homes?

Medicare and most health insurance plans don't pay for long-term care. in a nursing home. Even if Medicare doesn't cover your nursing home care, you'll still need Medicare to cover your hospital care, doctor's services, drugs and medical supplies while you're in a nursing home.

Do nursing homes take your social security check?

A nursing home can be appointed a patient's representative payee. This means the facility can directly accept federal benefit payments from the Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Railroad Retirement Board, and the Office of Personnel Management on a resident's behalf.

When can a nursing home take your house?

And while a nursing home itself cannot take your home, those relying on Medicaid may have their home seized by the federal government after passing away as the government's means of recouping their investment in your care.

Can a nursing home take your life savings?

and is a Certified Financial Planner. Nursing homes can't take a senior's life insurance benefits away from designated family beneficiaries to cover outstanding costs. However, nursing homes can accept payments from the resulting funds of a sold or surrendered policy.

How long will Medicaid pay for a nursing home?

For those who are eligible, Medicaid will pay for nursing home care, including room and board, on an ongoing, long-term basis as long as the eligibility criteria continues to be met. In many cases, this is for the remainder of one's life. Medicaid should not be confused with Medicare.

Are you responsible for your parents' nursing home debt?

Again, usually not. Federal law prohibits a nursing home from asking or requiring a third party to be a financial guarantor — in other words, a financially liable co-signer.

Can a nursing home take your house if it is in a trust?

Once your home is in the trust, it's no longer considered part of your personal assets, thereby protecting it from being used to pay for nursing home care. However, this must be done in compliance with Medicaid's look-back period, typically 5 years before applying for Medicaid benefits.

Can a nursing home override a power of attorney?

Can a Nursing Home Override a Power Of Attorney? Generally, a nursing home cannot override the decisions made by an agent with power of attorney. The purpose of a POA is to give a trusted individual legal authority to act on the principal's behalf when they can no longer make decisions.

What assets can you keep when you go into a nursing home?

Owning and using a home in the correct manner during one's lifetime can exempt it from consideration as an asset for nursing home expenses. Other exempt assets include a single automobile, pre-paid funeral arrangements, and certain life insurance policies.

What happens to property when someone goes to a nursing home?

Neither the nursing home nor the government will seize your home to cover expenses while you are living in care. However, if you run out of funds to pay for the care you need, your estate's assets may be taken after your death to cover those costs.

Can I claim my mother who lives in a nursing home?

Again, direct relatives do not have to live with you to count as a qualifying relative. Whether they live in their own home, in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home, the expenses you cover for their support at those locations count toward the IRS support test for dependents.