Should a Father Transfer His House to His Caretaker Daughter?

My friend has moved in with her father because he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He owns his home and she has been told it would be better for him to gift the house to her than for her to inherit it in his trust. She wonders if this is true, both for tax purposes and to protect the home from liens.

For tax purposes, your friend is probably better off inheriting the home, but in terms of Medicaid liens she may be better off having it transferred to her before her father's death. However, she needs to have lived with and cared for her father for two years in order to qualify for the “caretaker child” exception to Medicaid's usual penalty period for transferring assets. Since there is no one-size-fits-all answer, I strongly recommend that your friend consult with a local elder law attorney.

For more on Medicaid's transfer rules and exceptions to them, click here.