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

Yes, you can own a house and still get Medicaid in Florida. Your primary residence is treated as an exempt asset, so its value generally does not count when the state decides whether you qualify for long-term care benefits. The exemption comes with conditions, though, and the home may still be exposed to a claim from the state after you die.

Your Home Is Exempt While You Are Alive

Florida follows the federal rule that excludes a Medicaid applicant’s principal place of residence from countable assets. The exemption survives even if you move into a nursing home or assisted living facility, as long as you state that you intend to return. That intent-to-return standard is not demanding. You do not have to prove you are medically likely to go back. You just have to say so.

The home also stays exempt when 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, its value does not count against you regardless of how much the home is worth.

How Much Equity Can You Have in the Home?

Federal law caps how much equity you can hold in the home and still qualify for long-term care Medicaid. For 2026, Florida uses the minimum threshold of $752,000. States can elect a higher cap up to $1,130,000, but Florida does not.¹

Equity is the property’s fair market value minus any mortgage or other debt secured by the home. A house worth $850,000 with a $150,000 mortgage carries $700,000 in equity, which sits under the cap.

The equity limit 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 situations even a home with equity well above $752,000 remains fully exempt.

Owning a Home Is Not the Whole Test

An exempt home does not by itself make you eligible. Florida also imposes a countable asset limit of $2,000 for an individual applying for long-term care Medicaid. Countable assets include bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and any real estate other than your primary residence. One vehicle, personal belongings, and prepaid burial arrangements are excluded alongside the home, but the $2,000 ceiling is tight.

There is also a gross monthly income limit, roughly $2,982 for an individual applicant in 2026. If your income runs higher, you may still qualify by placing the excess into a Qualified Income Trust, sometimes called a Miller Trust, which holds and distributes the overage under Medicaid’s rules.

What Changes If You Are Married

When one spouse needs nursing home care and the other stays home, the at-home spouse is called the community spouse. Federal spousal impoverishment rules keep that spouse from being wiped out. The home is completely exempt while the community spouse lives there, and the equity cap does not apply.³

The community spouse is also allowed to keep a portion 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 may additionally receive a minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance drawn from the institutionalized spouse’s income when their own income falls short.

Do Not Give the House Away Before Applying

Giving the home away or selling it below fair market value in the five years before applying triggers Florida’s look-back rule. The state reviews transfers made during the 60 months before your application date. Any transfer for less than value during that window produces a penalty period of Medicaid ineligibility. The penalty is calculated by dividing the value of what you gave away by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your area, and there is no ceiling on how long it can run.

Federal law does allow you to transfer the home without a penalty in specific situations:²

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

The caretaker child exception is where families most often get tripped up. The child must show they actually provided hands-on care, meaning help with things like bathing, dressing, and medication. Paying bills or visiting regularly is not enough. Documenting that care contemporaneously is far easier than reconstructing it later.

What Happens to the House After You Die

The exemption protects the home during your life. It does not protect it forever. After a Medicaid recipient dies, federal law requires Florida to seek repayment for services provided after the recipient turned 55.⁴ Claims are filed against the probate estate through the Florida Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, administered on behalf of the Agency for Health Care Administration.⁵ The home is often the largest asset in the estate and the main target.

When the State Cannot Recover

Florida law bars estate recovery if the recipient is survived by:⁴

A spouse
A child under 21
A child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled

The state also cannot reach property that Florida’s constitution or laws shield from creditor claims. Florida’s homestead protections are among the strongest in the country and give heirs living in the home an additional layer of defense.

Hardship Waivers

An heir can request a hardship waiver even when none of the automatic protections apply. The strongest case involves an heir who lived in the home as their primary residence for at least 12 months before the recipient’s death, owns no other residence, and would lose access to food, shelter, or medical care if forced to sell. A sibling or child who provided full-time care that delayed the recipient’s entry into a nursing home can also qualify if they lived with the recipient for at least a year before death.⁴ Wanting to preserve an inheritance, on its own, does not establish hardship.

Lady Bird Deeds

Florida recognizes an enhanced life estate deed, commonly called a Lady Bird deed. The deed names a beneficiary who automatically receives your home at your death while you keep full control during life, including the right to sell, mortgage, or rent the property without the beneficiary’s consent. Because you retain ownership and control, creating one is not a transfer for Medicaid purposes and does not trigger a look-back penalty.

The payoff comes after death. Estate recovery operates through probate, and a Lady Bird deed passes the home outside of probate, 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 most effective and inexpensive tools in Florida for preserving a home for heirs once benefits have started.

A Second Home or Rental Is Not Exempt

The exemption covers only your primary residence. A vacation property, rental, or vacant lot is a countable asset, and its full equity value counts toward the $2,000 individual limit. Owning even a modest second property will almost always disqualify you. To become eligible, you would generally need to sell the property at fair market value and spend the proceeds on care or other allowable expenses until countable assets drop below $2,000. Giving that property away inside the five-year look-back triggers the same penalty formula that applies to the home.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