What Happens to My Credit Card Debt If I Enter a Nursing Home on Medicaid?

If I were approved for Medicaid coverage of my nursing home care, I know they would keep my Social Security and my small pension, but what would happen to the $6,500 balance on my credit card? I have no other assets. Could the credit card company make my children pay? 

If you have no assets, you are what is often called “judgment proof.” In theory, the credit card company could sue you, but they would collect nothing on their claim. They also cannot come after your children unless they co-signed the credit card or accepted liability in some other fashion. Generally, if you contact the credit card company and explain the situation they’ll back off.

For more on childrens' responsibility for a parent's debt, click here.