How to Protect Your Home from Medicaid Recovery in Florida

You worked hard for your home. It’s more than a roof over your head. It’s your biggest asset, a place full of memories, and something you may want to leave behind for your loved ones. But if you’ve received Medicaid benefits for long-term care, your home could be at risk after you pass. Medicaid estate recovery is a real concern, and proactive planning can make all the difference.

Families in Florida often ask how to protect their homes from being lost in this process. Understanding how estate recovery works is the first step toward creating a plan that keeps your home in the family.

What Is Medicaid Estate Recovery?

Medicaid is a lifeline for many seniors who need help covering long-term care costs. The trade-off? After the recipient’s death, the state has the right to seek reimbursement for those benefits by filing a claim against their estate. This process is called Medicaid estate recovery.

In Florida, this usually means the state will go after assets that pass through probate, including your home unless it’s properly protected.

Is My Primary Residence at Risk?

It depends. During your lifetime, your homestead property is generally exempt from Medicaid eligibility calculations. But once you pass, that exemption can disappear if your estate ends up in probate.

Florida does offer strong protections for homestead property, but these can be bypassed without the right planning in place. For example, if your home is titled solely in your name and you don’t have a living spouse or minor child, it may be considered fair game for recovery unless steps are taken ahead of time.

How to Shield Your Home from Medicaid Recovery

Florida law offers several ways to protect your home from Medicaid estate recovery. Some involve straightforward exemptions, while others call for more strategic legal planning. The most effective approaches include:

1. Revocable Living Trust

Transferring your home into a revocable living trust can help you avoid probate while retaining control over the property during your lifetime. Because the home won’t go through probate when you pass, it stays out of reach from estate recovery efforts.

A trust is flexible and allows you to specify who receives the property after your death. Just make sure it’s structured properly and does not affect your Medicaid eligibility, which is where a seasoned elder law attorney comes in handy.

2. Lady Bird Deed (Enhanced Life Estate Deed)

Think of a Lady Bird Deed as a legal shortcut around probate. It allows you to keep full ownership and control of your home while you’re alive but automatically transfers the property to a designated beneficiary when you die.

The transfer happens outside of probate. That means your home bypasses the estate and avoids Medicaid recovery without triggering penalties or affecting eligibility.

3. Joint Ownership with Rights of Survivorship

You can also title your home jointly with someone, like a spouse or adult child, with rights of survivorship. When you pass, the property automatically becomes theirs and does not go through probate.

However, this method has its pitfalls. You’ll want to understand the risks, including possible gift tax implications or creditor exposure, before adding someone else to your deed.

4. Gift the Property (With Caution)

Giving away your home during your lifetime might sound like a generous shortcut, but tread carefully. Medicaid has a five-year lookback period. Any gifts made during that time can trigger penalties or delays in eligibility.

Unless the gift is part of a carefully crafted asset protection plan, this strategy can do more harm than good. It’s best approached only after consulting a qualified elder law attorney.

5. Spousal Protections

If you’re married, you’re in luck. Florida law protects homestead property for surviving spouses. If your spouse continues to live in the home after you pass, Medicaid generally can’t recover against it.

Still, it’s wise to plan ahead. What happens when the surviving spouse passes? Without proper planning, the home may still be vulnerable.

Why Planning Ahead Matters

You don’t need to panic, but you don’t want to wait either. Once you're already in a nursing home or applying for Medicaid, some strategies like gifting or trust transfers may not be available without penalty.

The earlier you act, the more tools you have at your disposal. Working with a Florida elder law attorney helps you design a plan that fits your situation, protects your assets, and keeps your estate from going places you didn’t intend.

Protect What Matters with Dorcey Law Firm, PLC

At Dorcey Law Firm, PLC, we help families in Florida protect what they’ve worked a lifetime to build. Our team understands the urgency and complexity of Medicaid planning and can guide you through options like irrevocable trusts, strategic transfers, or personalized asset protection plans.

Some clients come to us during a health crisis, while others want to prepare long before long-term care becomes a reality. In both cases, we work to keep your home and savings secure, reduce exposure to Medicaid estate recovery, and help avoid unnecessary probate.

Planning ahead can lift a weight off your shoulders and spare your family difficult decisions later. Let’s build a plan that gives your family stability today and preserves what matters most for tomorrow.

Contact Dorcey Law Firm, PLC at (239) 309-2870 to schedule a consultation with our asset protection and elder law attorneys. It’s your home. Let’s help you keep it that way.