The Lady Bird deed is the state-specific home tool
The Michigan Lady Bird deed retains the owner's unrestricted right to use, sell, mortgage, convey, and change beneficiaries, then passes an untransferred property outside probate at death. State Bar and MSU Extension materials describe this retained-control structure as avoiding both Medicaid divestment treatment and ordinary probate-based estate recovery under current rules (State Bar of Michigan Journal; MSU Extension).
Michigan's central distinction: probate-only estate recovery plus a confirmed nonprobate Lady Bird deed makes home-title planning unusually important. It does not remove the need to evaluate creditors, taxes, insurance, mortgages, family contingencies, and the grantor's continued needs (
MDHHS Estate Recovery;
MSU Extension).
Spouse protections and transfers require timing
For 2026, BEM 402 lists community-spouse resource standards from $32,532 to $162,660, while BEM 546 lists a maximum community-spouse income allowance of $4,066.50 per month. These protections may be more important to a married couple than an immediate transfer strategy (MDHHS BEM 402; MDHHS BEM 546).
Michigan's 2026 transfer-penalty divisor is $12,216 monthly, with no stated maximum penalty length and no minimum transfer amount. An outright uncompensated gift can therefore create a service-payment gap even where the family intended a reasonable estate plan (MDHHS BEM 405).
Insurance can add a separate asset-disregard option
MCL 400.112c provides a dollar-for-dollar Medicaid asset disregard and estate-recovery protection for benefits paid by a qualifying Michigan Partnership policy. The protection is tied to a policy certified as a Partnership Policy, not simply any LTC policy (MCL 400.112c; DIFS Bulletin 2016-01-INS).
New-sale status was not affirmatively confirmed; verify with DIFS (DIFS Bulletin 2016-01-INS). See Florida's planning page and Advance Medicaid Planning.
Not mutually exclusive. Most families combine two or three funding pillars — this one rarely stands alone.
The
Journey Assessment ranks all ten pillars against your specific situation and
recommends the top three.
