In California, Medicaid can make a claim against your estate after you die for the cost of Medi-Cal benefits that were paid on your behalf. This is called estate recovery. However, your home may be exempt from estate recovery if you are married and your spouse survives you, or if you are unmarried and your children or grandchildren survive you.
Here are the specific rules for estate recovery in California:
- Homes: The home you live in is exempt from estate recovery if you are married and your spouse survives you, or if you are unmarried and your children or grandchildren survive you. However, if your home is worth more than $500,000, the state can claim a portion of the value that exceeds $500,000.
- Other assets: All other assets in your estate are subject to estate recovery, including cash, investments, and personal property. However, the state will not claim more than the total amount of Medi-Cal benefits that were paid on your behalf.
If you are concerned about estate recovery, you should speak with an attorney who can help you develop a plan to protect your assets. There are a number of strategies that can be used to protect assets from estate recovery, such as transferring assets to a trust or creating a living will.
Here are some of the things you can do to protect your home from estate recovery:
- Keep your home in joint tenancy with your spouse. This will make your spouse the sole owner of the home after you die, and the state will not be able to claim a portion of the value of the home.
- Create a living trust with your home as one of the assets. This will allow you to transfer ownership of the home to the trust while you are still alive, and the state will not be able to claim a portion of the value of the home after you die.
- Apply for an Undue Hardship Waiver. If you can show that estate recovery would cause undue hardship to your heirs, you may be able to get a waiver from the state.
It is important to speak with an attorney to discuss your specific situation and to learn about the best way to protect your home from estate recovery.