Can Medicaid Recover a Home Deeded to a Disabled Child?

Your mother’s transfer of the home to your name alone may be a protected transfer for purposes of Medicaid eligibility, as well as protective against future estate recovery. Federal Medicaid law exempts transfers of a home to disabled child. Additionally, since the home would not be in your mother’s name or estate when she passes, the home would not be subject to estate recovery. 

Since you're a disabled adult receiving SSDI, you likely qualify for the non-penalized transfer, but a few things determine whether it holds up:

What Determines If You're Protected

• Documentation of disability matters. Medicaid typically wants proof your disability meets the SSA's definition of disabled; your SSDI status is strong evidence, since SSA already made that determination.

• Your mother has to have given up all interest. A quitclaim deed transferring full ownership, with no retained life estate or strings attached, is what makes this clean. If she kept a life estate or an undocumented right to live there rent-free, some states could still try to claim value through that retained interest.

• Timing and paperwork matter. Having your disability documentation on file with the state Medicaid agency, tied to this transfer, avoids confusion if the file is reviewed later.

As a disabled child under federal Medicaid's "disabled child" exception, you're very likely shielded from both a transfer penalty and future estate recovery on this home.