Medicaid Estate Recovery by State: What Each State Can Reach (2026)

Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: whether Medicaid can reach your house after death depends almost entirely on which state you are in, and the difference is not a matter of degree. Federal law sets a floor: states must try to recover long-term-care costs from the probate estate. But states may go further, and 21 of the 44 we have verified do — reaching joint tenancy, survivorship property, life estates, transfer-on-death accounts and living trusts. In the other 23, property that avoids probate avoids recovery.

That single split decides whether the standard planning advice works where you live or does nothing at all. Almost every article on this subject states one state’s rule as though it were national.

What each state can actually reach

Two categories. Probate estate only means recovery is limited to assets that pass through probate — so a properly executed non-probate transfer is generally outside it. Expanded estate means the state has defined “estate” more broadly, and non-probate transfers can be reached.

Why this table has 44 rows and not 51

Seven states are held back: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia. Each has a genuine source conflict — a regulation that reads one way while the agency’s own materials or a legislative fact sheet read another, a glossary that cross-references the estate-tax definition, or a program that appears dormant in practice. We do not publish a classification we cannot stand behind on this subject, because the consequence of getting it wrong is somebody making an irreversible decision about their home. They return when the conflict resolves against a primary source.

What the classification does and does not tell you

• It is not the whole rule. Recovery generally applies to long-term-care services received from age 55, not to all Medicaid, and every state has exemptions and hardship waivers layered on top.
• A surviving spouse changes everything in every state. Recovery is deferred or barred while a spouse survives, and minor or disabled children trigger protections too.
• Dollar thresholds vary widely. Several states simply do not pursue small estates — Georgia exempts estates of $25,000 or less, Texas will not file where the estate is $10,000 or less, Pennsylvania passes on gross estates of $2,400 or less.
• Some states have carve-outs that flip the answer for particular people. North Carolina is probate-only for ordinary recipients but applies the expanded definition to long-term-care-partnership policyholders, and Illinois has a similar partnership wrinkle.

The honest framing

This page exists so you can find out what your state actually does, from its own law, before making a decision about a house. It is not a guide to defeating a claim the state is entitled to make. Estate recovery exists because long-term care was paid for from public funds, and the rules about transfers are enforced with look-back periods and penalties. What planning legitimately does is use the exemptions and instruments a state itself provides — and in several states, does nothing at all, which is worth knowing before paying anyone to attempt it.

The underlying dataset is archived and citable: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21743935.

Start here if you are asking the general question: can Medicaid take your house. Related: the caregiver-child exemption · lady bird deeds and Medicaid · the penalty period calculator · does a living trust protect the house.

Every classification below is cited to the state’s own statute, administrative code or Medicaid agency, read at source. General information, not legal advice. Medicaid rules change, an agency can interpret its own rules, and an elder-law attorney licensed in your state is the right person to confirm your own position — we do not sell referrals to one.