Can I Keep My House If I Go Into a Nursing Home?
In most cases, yes — the home is an exempt asset for Medicaid, even from a nursing home bed. But two conditions have to be met, and one of them is easy to miss.
The short answer
In most cases, yes. A primary home is generally exempt from Medicaid's asset limit even while its owner is living in a nursing home — Medicaid cannot force a sale while the beneficiary is alive. But "generally exempt" comes with two specific conditions, and missing either one is the single most common way families accidentally jeopardize the home. See American Council on Aging — When is a Home Exempt from Medicaid's Asset Limit?.
Condition 1: Intent to Return
If no spouse, minor child, or disabled child is living in the home, the resident must state an Intent to Return home in order to keep the exemption — regardless of whether a return is medically realistic. This is a legal declaration, not a medical prognosis, and most state Medicaid applications ask for it directly. Failing to state Intent to Return (or later revoking it) can convert the home into a countable asset.
Condition 2: The home equity limit
If none of the automatic-exemption relatives — a spouse, a child under 21, or a child of any age who is blind or permanently disabled — live in the home, a home equity interest limit applies. For 2026, federal rules set this at a minimum of $752,000 and a maximum of $1,130,000, with each state choosing where in that range to set its own limit (a handful of states, including California, apply no limit at all). Florida uses the $752,000 minimum. See the CMS 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards bulletin and state-by-state 2026 home equity limits.
What happens if the equity limit is exceeded
Homeowners over the limit are not automatically disqualified permanently. Common fixes include a reverse mortgage or home equity loan to pay down the excess equity, or in some cases a legal transfer to a qualifying relative. This is exactly the kind of decision worth an elder-law consultation before applying — get it wrong and the application can be denied outright.
The maintenance problem no one warns you about
An exempt home doesn't pay for itself. Property taxes, insurance, utilities, and basic upkeep continue whether or not anyone is living there, and a single applicant on Nursing Home Medicaid has almost all of their income redirected to a "patient responsibility" payment toward their care — leaving very little to maintain a house that sits empty. Families in this position often end up choosing between the pillar covered here and the one covered in Should I Sell My Home to Pay for Long-Term Care?
Want to know how this fits your specific situation?
Twelve questions. About four minutes. A shortlist ranked specifically for you — not a generic list of all ten.