Medicaid Eligibility and the Florida Lady Bird Deed
by
Anthony J. Cetrangelo on Sep. 19, 2018
Summary: This article focuses on Lady Bird Deeds and if they affect medicaid eligibility.
Florida Lady Bird Deeds (also known as, Enhanced Life Estate Deeds) have many benefits as discussed in previous articles. A common question that often arises when discussing these types of deeds is, “How will a Lady Bird Deed affect my Medicaid eligibility? Isn’t it considered a transfer?”
Medicaid has a 60-month (5-year) lookback period of assets that have been transferred, when assessing a person’s eligibility for governmental benefits. Fortunately, a Lady Bird Deed will not be considered a transferred property for the purposes of this lookback period.
The reason why the Lady Bird Deed will not affect the lookback period is because you retain the rights to your real property during your life. The Lady Bird Deed is disregarded for Medicaid purposes and therefore will not hurt your Medicaid eligibility.
