09/17/2026
A Lady Bird deed is a life estate where you keep control.
You stay the owner for life. You can sell, refinance, or change the heir, and nobody needs to sign off. At death the home passes to the person named on the deed, outside probate.
Here is the part nobody talks about: a regular life estate hands the heir real rights the day it is signed. You cannot sell or refinance without their consent, and you cannot take it back. That makes it a completed gift, which is exactly what Medicaid's five year look-back is built to catch.
A Lady Bird deed is not a completed gift, because you can revoke it, so the look-back does not apply. It also skips probate, and in the five states that recognize it, that is what keeps the house out of reach of Medicaid estate recovery. The heir generally inherits at the home's value on the date of death rather than the original purchase price, so the capital gains reset survives too.
The honest other side: it only exists by statute in Florida, Michigan, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia, and only for a home located there. Elsewhere, a transfer-on-death deed, available in about 30 states and D.C., or a revocable trust does the same job. And it covers the house alone. Everything else still needs a will, beneficiary forms or a trust.
One deed, recorded with the county, that keeps the keys in your hand and the house out of court. The catch is which state the house sits in.
Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Rules vary by state, so confirm your own situation with a licensed estate attorney.
