can estate recovery take away house?

Question

My parents did a quitclaim deed to my brother about 15 years ago to release ownership of the house, he has been paying taxes and everything since then.  Later parents were in the medicaid and medical program. If they pass away, can the medicaid or medical (CA) program take back the house? 
 
Thanks for the advice.

Nina Whitehurst · Answer

Medicaid can’t take back a gift made by a Medicaid recipient unless it was made to hinder, defraud or delay Medicaid at that time, which clearly wasn’t the case. Medicaid can impose penalties for gifts made in the past, but the look back period is way fewer than 15 years, and Medicaid in California only makes claims for estate recovery against probate estates, so chances it is highly unlikely that your brother is going to hear from Medicaid about the house.

Julie King · Answer

When someone applies for a needs-based government benefit like Medicaid (needs-based means the people eligible for the benefit must have a medical need and less than a certain dollar amount in "available" resources), the  government will look back many years -- frequently five (5) years from the date on which the person applied for Medicaid -- to see if the person transferred any assets to others. If the transfer of assets was to defraud, delay or hinder Medicaid, the person won't be eligible to receive the benefits until a certain period of time passes. So, there will be a delay before the person will be able to get Medicaid. You should be pretty safe with a transfer made 15 years ago, but a lawyer would need to learn all the details of the situation before making a specific determination in each person's case.

Q: can estate recovery take away house?