Medicaid Estate Recovery and the Family Home, by State (2026)

Estate recovery and the house, state by state

Each method column answers one question, which is whether estate recovery can reach a house that passes that way when the Medicaid recipient dies. “Not available” means the state does not recognize that method. A lien recorded against the house during life is a separate route, and the data files say which states use one.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

In Florida a revocable trust is reachable because the trust must pay the estate’s debts, the Medicaid claim included, when the probate estate cannot. A Florida homestead is protected by the homestead exemption, not by the trust, and that protection applies however the homestead passes. This row was corrected on September 28, 2026; the first version marked the Florida trust as out of reach.

Transfer on death deed states and effective dates

Thirty four states and the District of Columbia have a statute allowing a transfer on death deed (in some states called a beneficiary deed) for real property. Maryland’s act takes effect on October 1, 2026. Most of these acts make the beneficiary answer for the owner’s debts when the probate estate is short, and that liability is how a Medicaid claim reaches the house even in some probate-only states. Texas, West Virginia, Mississippi and Arkansas are the exceptions that protect the house.

The sixteen states with no transfer on death deed are Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont. Ohio and New Mexico show the year of the original act.

Where the lady bird deed is recognized

A lady bird deed (also called an enhanced life estate deed) keeps the owner in control for life, including the power to sell without the heirs’ signatures, and passes the house at death without probate. Seven states recognize the deed in a statute, a court decision or a Medicaid agency rule. West Virginia is often listed as a lady bird state and Virginia is sometimes cited, but each has only a general statute protecting the remainder after a life estate given to another person with a power to sell (W. Va. Code 36-1-16 and Va. Code 55.1-106). Neither statute addresses an owner who keeps the power, so neither state is counted. In the other 44 jurisdictions, Virginia and West Virginia included, no primary authority was found.

How a Florida lady bird deed works, and what it costs, is covered in the Florida lady bird deed guide. Florida’s own recovery rules are explained in Florida Medicaid estate recovery.