Can You Own a House and Still Get Medicaid in Florida?

Yes — in Florida you can own a house and still get Medicaid. Your primary residence is treated as an exempt asset, so its value generally does not count against you when the state decides whether you qualify for long-term care Medicaid. The exemption has conditions, though, and the house that is protected while you are alive can still be reached after your death. Here is how the rules actually work.

Why Your Home Is Exempt

Florida follows the federal rule that excludes your principal place of residence from the countable assets used to determine Medicaid eligibility. The protection continues even if you move into a nursing home or assisted living facility, as long as you state an intent to return home. The intent-to-return standard is not a medical test. You do not have to show that returning is likely, only that you intend it.

The home also stays exempt, regardless of its value, if your spouse or a dependent relative continues to live there while you receive care in a facility. As long as a qualifying family member occupies the property, the equity in the home will not disqualify you.

The Home Equity Cap

Even though the house itself is exempt, federal law caps how much equity you can hold in it and still qualify for long-term care Medicaid. For 2026, Florida uses the minimum threshold set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: $752,000.¹ Home equity is the current fair market value of the property minus any mortgage or other debt secured by it. A house worth $850,000 with a $150,000 mortgage carries $700,000 in equity, which falls under the limit.

The equity cap does not apply at all if your spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or permanently disabled child of any age lives in the home.² In those cases, equity well above $752,000 remains fully exempt.

Other Assets and Income Still Have to Fit

Owning an exempt home does not by itself make you eligible. Florida Medicaid for long-term care applies a strict countable asset limit of $2,000 for an individual applicant. Countable assets include bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and any real estate besides your primary residence. Some items are excluded alongside the home — one vehicle, personal belongings, and prepaid burial arrangements — but the $2,000 ceiling is tight.

There is also a gross monthly income limit, approximately $2,982 for an individual applicant in 2026. If your income is higher, you may still qualify by setting up a Qualified Income Trust, sometimes called a Miller Trust, which holds the excess and distributes it under Medicaid rules.

Protections for Married Couples

When one spouse needs nursing home care and the other stays home, the at-home spouse is the “community spouse.” Federal spousal impoverishment rules exist so that paying for one spouse’s care does not drive the other into poverty.³ The home is completely exempt when the community spouse lives there, and the equity cap does not apply.

Beyond the house, the community spouse keeps a share of the couple’s combined countable assets, known as the Community Spouse Resource Allowance. For 2026, the maximum CSRA is $166,660. The community spouse is also entitled to a minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance, which can be drawn from the institutionalized spouse’s income if the community spouse’s own income falls short.

Transferring the Home: the Five-Year Look-Back

Giving away your home, or selling it for less than fair market value, within five years of applying for Medicaid triggers the look-back rule. Florida examines asset transfers made during the 60 months before your application. A transfer for less than full value during that window produces a penalty period of ineligibility, calculated by dividing the value of the transferred asset by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your area. There is no cap on the penalty length, so a valuable house can translate into many months without coverage.

Federal law allows several transfers of the home with no penalty:²

To your spouse, at any time.
To a child who is under 21, blind, or permanently disabled.
To a sibling who already has an equity interest in the home and who lived there for at least one year immediately before you entered a care facility.
To an adult son or daughter who lived in the home for at least two years immediately before you entered the facility and who provided care that allowed you to stay home rather than move to an institution.

The caretaker-child exception is where families most often run into trouble. The child must show they actually provided hands-on care — help with bathing, dressing, medication management, and similar daily needs. Paying bills or visiting regularly is not enough. Documenting the care while it is happening is far easier than reconstructing a care history later.

What Happens to the Home After You Die

The exemption that protects your home while you are alive does not survive you. After a Medicaid recipient dies, Florida is required by federal law to seek repayment for the cost of services provided after the recipient turned 55.⁴ The claim is filed against the deceased recipient’s probate estate through the Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, administered for the Agency for Health Care Administration.⁵ Because the home is often the largest asset, it is a primary target.

When the State Cannot Recover

Florida law bars estate recovery if the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled.⁴ The state also cannot reach property that Florida’s constitution or laws protect from creditor claims, and Florida’s homestead protections are among the strongest in the country.

Heirs who do not fit those categories can request a hardship waiver. The strongest case involves an heir who lived in the home as a primary residence for at least 12 months before the recipient’s death, owns no other residence, and would lose basic necessities if forced to sell. Wanting to preserve an inheritance is not, by itself, hardship.

Lady Bird Deeds

Florida is one of the few states that recognize an enhanced life estate deed, usually called a Lady Bird deed. It names a beneficiary who automatically receives the home when you die, while you keep full control during your lifetime, including the right to sell, mortgage, or rent the property without the beneficiary’s consent. Because you retain ownership and control, creating the deed is not a transfer for Medicaid purposes and does not trigger a look-back penalty.

The benefit shows up after death. Florida’s estate recovery runs through probate, and a Lady Bird deed moves the home outside probate. The property never enters the probate estate, so the state’s claim typically cannot reach it. A Lady Bird deed is not a way to become eligible for Medicaid, but it is one of the simpler ways to keep the house in the family once you are already receiving benefits.

Second Homes and Other Real Estate

The exemption applies only to your primary residence. Any other real estate you own — a vacation property, rental unit, or vacant land — is a countable asset at its full equity value, which almost always pushes an applicant past the $2,000 individual asset ceiling. To qualify, you would generally need to sell the property at fair market value and spend the proceeds on care or other allowable expenses. Transferring non-primary real estate to a family member for less than fair market value inside the five-year window produces a penalty period on the same terms as any other uncompensated transfer.²

1
Medicaid.gov. January 2026 Spousal Impoverishment Standards
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets
3
Medicaid.gov. Spousal Impoverishment
4
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 409.9101 – Recovery for Payments Made on Behalf of Medicaid-Eligible Persons
5
Florida Medicaid TPL. Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program