Medi-Cal, Long-Term Care, and Estate Recovery

Long-term care is where most California estate plans actually get tested. Medi-Cal pays for skilled nursing when a family cannot, but it comes with asset limits, an income test, a look-back period on transfers, and a claim against the estate after death. The rules changed on January 1, 2026, they are scheduled to change again no sooner than July 1, 2027, and the look-back is still phasing in through 2028, so almost everything published before this year is now wrong in some detail. These guides cover the current numbers, what actually counts as a penalized transfer, whether the house is safe, and what the state can recover once someone dies. If you want a straight read on where a parent stands, talk to Eric.

The current numbers

• California Medi-Cal Asset Limits — The $130,000 and $195,000 limits in force now, and the reduction scheduled no sooner than July 1, 2027.
• California Medi-Cal Income Limits — The MAGI and non-MAGI income figures, and which set of rules applies to you.
• Medi-Cal Asset Screener — A short interactive check against the current asset limits.

Qualifying and the look-back

• A Parent Is Entering a Nursing Home — What to do in the first weeks, and the decisions that are hard to undo later.
• Can I Give Away Assets to Qualify for Medi-Cal? — Gifting is penalized rather than criminal. How the transfer penalty is calculated and which transfers are exempt.
• Does a Living Trust Protect Assets From a Nursing Home? — The short answer is no, and the reason matters more than the answer.
• The Medi-Cal Look-Back Is Phasing In Through 2028 — The look-back reaches 30 months but counts only transfers on or after January 1, 2026, growing month by month until 2028.

Protecting the home

• Medi-Cal and Your Living Trust — Where a living trust helps with long-term care planning and where it does nothing at all.
• Protecting the House From Medi-Cal — The home is exempt while you qualify. What happens to it after death is a separate question.

After death: estate recovery

• Medi-Cal Estate Recovery After AB 116 — What the state can recover after death, why it reaches only the probate estate, and who is protected outright.
• Trusts and Medi-Cal Estate Recovery in California — What a revocable trust does and does not do against a recovery claim, and where families get this wrong.

More guides

• Medi-Cal Planning and Elder Law — How Ridley Law handles long-term care planning for California families.
• Medi-Cal Planning: A Ventura County Perspective — How long-term care planning actually plays out for Ventura County families.