You paid in. Care isn’t free to the state after death. We help you plan before that bill lands on the house.

Georgia Medicaid estate recovery is a real program. It is not a rumor, and it is not a midnight raid on a living person. This path is for families who are still well and can plan five or more years ahead, with an attorney in the loop.

It happens after death, not while you are alive.

Georgia’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program seeks reimbursement from the estate of a deceased Medicaid member. The Department of Community Health says funds are recovered after death for the cost of qualifying long-term care and related services. No recovery action is taken while the member is living in the home.

Source: Georgia DCH, Medicaid Estate Recovery

Who it can apply to.

It can apply to a person of any age who was in a nursing facility or similar medical institution, and to a person age 55 or older who received nursing-home or home-and-community-based services paid by Medicaid. Qualifying expenses can include nursing facility, personal care, home and community-based services, and hospital and prescription drugs tied to that care.

Source: Georgia DCH estate recovery FAQ, Sept 2025

The $25,000 floor.

Estates with a gross value of $25,000 or less are exempt. For deaths on or after July 1, 2018, the Commissioner also waives any claim against the first $25,000 of an estate that is otherwise subject to recovery, to prevent substantial and unreasonable hardship.

Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-3-8-.04(18); DCH overview

Spouse and child protections delay recovery.

Recovery is delayed while a surviving spouse is alive, while there is a living child under 21, and while there is a living child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled under Title XIX. Additional delays can apply while a qualifying sibling or a caregiving child still lives in the home under the conditions in the DCH rules.

Source: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(2); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-3-8-.04(8)–(9)

Georgia counts more than a probate will.

For estate recovery, Georgia defines the estate as real and personal property under the probate code plus property passing by joint tenancy, right of survivorship, life estate, trust, annuity, IRA, homestead, transfer-on-death, or any other arrangement. A simple “put it in a trust” or “keep a life estate” is not, by itself, a shield. The DCH rules also say a trust provision that denies recovery for medical assistance is void.

Source: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-3-8; DCH FAQ

The 5-year look-back is about qualifying, not the bill after death.

When someone applies for long-term-care Medicaid, Georgia looks back 60 months at transfers made for less than fair market value. Giving the house away inside that window can trigger a penalty period of ineligibility. That rule is separate from estate recovery, and it is why this service will not assemble a transfer packet if nursing-home Medicaid is already needed inside five years.

Source: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c); Georgia ABD Medicaid transfer policy

What Porchlight actually does

Educates, in plain language, with sources.
Intakes facts. Does not give legal conclusions.
Fills locked attorney templates — occupancy, upkeep, later rent, sale waterfall, fees.
Routes the draft to a supervising attorney and a paralegal.
Tracks the stewardship file after recording: occupancy, logs, expenses, the published fee.

The person keeps occupancy while they need the home. Family keeps sale proceeds after documented costs and a fee you see on the next screens. We do not take the house.

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Read it from the state

Education, not legal advice. Porchlight does not practice law and does not promise a Medicaid result. A supervising Georgia elder-law attorney reviews facts before anything is signed or recorded.