Can ALTCS take your house in Arizona?
Not while you're alive and using it appropriately — your primary home (up to an equity limit that adjusts annually) is an exempt asset when you apply for ALTCS, and it stays exempt while a spouse or dependent relative lives there. However, after the ALTCS member's death, Arizona's estate recovery program can make a claim against the estate — including the house — to recover what ALTCS paid, with important exceptions.
This question keeps families from applying for help they're entitled to, so the details matter:
While applying and enrolled: the primary residence does not count against ALTCS's asset limit as long as the applicant, their spouse, or certain dependent relatives live in it, or the applicant states an intent to return home. The house does not need to be sold to qualify.
After death — estate recovery: federal law requires Arizona to attempt recovery of ALTCS costs from the estates of members who received long-term care after age 55. Recovery is deferred or barred while a surviving spouse is alive, while a child under 21 or a blind or disabled child of any age survives, and in certain hardship cases.
What families should do: none of this is a reason to avoid ALTCS — care paid at ALTCS rates usually costs the estate far less than years of private pay would have. But the interaction between the house, the spouse, and recovery rules is exactly where an elder law attorney earns their fee. Get advice before selling, gifting, or retitling the home; transfers within the five-year lookback can create penalty periods.
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