Your home receives special treatment under Medicaid rules, and owning a home does not automatically prevent someone from qualifying for long-term-care Medicaid. But, that does not necessarily mean the home is completely protected.

There is an important difference between a home being treated favorably when determining Medicaid eligibility and the home being protected from Medicaid estate recovery after death.

And that is why planning ahead can be so important.

For most North Carolina families, the home isn’t simply where they live. Tt’s where life happened. It’s where children took their first steps, where holidays were celebrated, and where love and laughter filled the rooms. But for many older adults, the dream of passing that home on to the next generation can feel uncertain when the realities of aging, and the high cost of long-term care, come into view.

The question that keeps many awake at night is simple, yet heartbreaking: Could the nursing home take my house?