Is Property Owned By Your Spouse Protected?

When your spouse needs nursing home care many people find themselves in a challenging position. You want your spouse to have the best care possible. You also need to protect assets to maintain your own lifestyle on a fixed income. In an attempt to protect assets some families only change the ownership on assets to the name of the healthy spouse. Does this work?

Is property safe if it is owned only by the healthy spouse and not by the spouse who needs Texas Medicaid benefits?

When you apply for Texas Medicaid nursing home benefits you are only asking for benefits for one person. It makes a certain amount of sense that for eligibility purposes only that person’s assets and income would be examined in order to determine eligibility for Texas Medicaid. However, it is a longstanding law that when one spouse needs Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care the assets and income of both spouses are examined in order to determine eligibility. Your combined assets and income must be within the eligibility requirements for a married applicant. As a result, changing the ownership of assets from one spouse to the other provides no asset protection.

Is there anything else that can be done to protect assets?

Absolutely. Whether you need to be eligible for Medicaid benefits imminently or years from now you do have options to protect and make the most of your resources before spending everything on nursing home bills. Speak with a Texas Medicaid Attorney today to protect your hard earned assets from rising nursing home bills.

TexasTitle19.com is your resource to find an experienced Houston Medicaid Attorney who can help you find the right nursing home, get the best care, and pay for it all without going broke. We are currently focused on Harris and Montgomery Counties, including the areas of Houston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Tomball, Humble, and Katy.  We also provide consulting services throughout all of Texas.