Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Nursing Home

First, I must caution you that this is a very complex area of law where loopholes are being closed as rapidly as they are invented.

I believe one way to keep a home is to give it as a gift to your heirs while retaining a life estate. Your home is exempt from rules forbidding such gifts. Then if you do enter a residential care facility, you must at that time express an intent to return to your home.

I have heard of folks who preserved cash for their heirs by investing it in their homes as home improvements, etc. I do not express an opinion as to whether this would work for you.

Some of the applicable law is found in the Welfare & Institutions Code at around section 14006. Rules and regulations are published in the California Code of Regulations as well, at (for example) 22 Cal.Code Regs. 50401-50489.9 and 50501-50571.

This is an area of law that is so complex that it doesn't lend itself well to bulletin-board answer. No matter how modest your home and other assets, if entering a long-term care facility is a possibility for you, you should plan for it as far in advance as possible, using a good estate-planning or elder-care attorney.

Getting competent and personalized advice may make a big difference not only in the amount of assets you can pass to your heirs, but also the quality of nursing care you are able to obtain.

Seeing a specialist now is a decision you will not regret.