Medicaid Planning
Medicaid Estate Recovery: What Families Owe (2026)
When states can recover Medicaid nursing home costs from an estate and common exemptions.
7 min readUpdated 2026-06-20
Federal law requires states to seek recovery of Medicaid long-term care costs from the estates of deceased beneficiaries age 55 and older, with exceptions for surviving spouses and disabled children.
Common exemptions
- Surviving spouse still living
- Disabled child or blind child residing in home
- Hardship waivers in some states
- Liens generally not placed while spouse resides in home
State estate recovery policies
- Texas
- Florida
- California
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio
- Illinois
- Georgia
- Arizona
- North Carolina
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Washington
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Colorado
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
- District of Columbia
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