frequently asked questions

Yet another reason you should not gift your home to your children (part 3 of 4):

Yet another reason you should not gift your home to your children is the Medicaid five-year lookback period. If you gift your home to your children (or anybody) and need Medicaid benefits within five years of the gift, you will not qualify for Medicaid. There are other options to get around this but often people make the mistake of not seeking the help of an attorney that deals with elder law or estate planning, and it can disqualify them from receiving Medicaid. There are other ways around this to pass your home to your children such as with a Ladybird Deed or Transfer on Death Deed. These are much better options as they do not disqualify you from receiving Medicaid, are not a “transfer”, and keep the home out of probate so it is not an asset that can be recovered against by Medicaid.

If you want to leave your home or real property to your children, there are better ways to do it than making a gift. Contact the Law Office of Roy Neal Linnartz, PLLC at 830-625-9300 for help planning to leave property to your children without the unintended consequences of gifting it to them.