Texas- Quit Claim... Warranty Deed.. Nursing Home...confused

[Erica Martin]

My spouse was given a property through a quit claim deed by a family memeber. Documented (10/16) Filed (06/18).

He tried selling the house  but quickly found out in Texas he could not use the quit claim deed to sell the house. He  is trying to get the person to sign a warranty deed. The problem is the person is in a nursing home and other family members are saying this will affect their Medicaid.
My questions are: Will this affect their medicaid? The quit claim deed was signed while the person was in a nursing home and the price was $10. Also what is the Quit Claim actually for anyway?

[Bill B.]

I BELIEVE Medicare/Medicaid will clawback any sales made up to 5 years prior to admittance to nursing home. If the property is worth more than $10 this will defiantly look like fraud since all the proceeds are supposed to be used to pay them back. 

It certainly LOOKS like an attempt to an attempt to defraud the the government. UNLESS the owner is not receiving any Medicare/Medicaid benefits. (I was going to say or the property was sold at its real value and that money was spent for health care. But unfortunately a ridiculous value was used that no lawyer would defend in court, especially if the property was sold for more than a $1,000 soon after.) 

Talk to a Medicare attorney and an elder attorney. The two outcomes I could predict is either they say you and the seller tried to defraud the government or you committed elder abuse and tricked seller out of the property. Ones bad for both of you and one’s only bad for you. 

I would go in to it assuming the government ends up being paid the true value by who ever sells the property.