Should I get legally separated from my estranged husband to protect my home if he requires long-term care?
Your concerns are entirely legitimate. If your estranged husband were to require long term carein a nursing home, Medicaid would consider the assets of both of you in determining his eligibility. Because Medicaid is a joint state and federal program there are some variations from state to state. In some states, the strategy of "spousal refusal" can be used whereby, in a situation such as yours, your assets would not be considered as assets to be considered in the determination of your estranged husband's Medicaid eligibility where you have been separated for a considerable length of time and did not separate merely because he was going to enter a nursing home. In that situation, you would be within your rights to refuse to cooperate with his application. However, the more clear and effective way of achieving a separation of your assets in order to protect your assets from being considered in his Medicaid application would be to obtain a divorce.
