Countable and exempt assets
Identify what the applicable Medi-Cal program counts, what it excludes, and what documentation will be needed.
California Medi-Cal Asset Protection
Do Not Spend Down Your Life Savings Based on Generic Advice
National articles, AI answers, advice from friends, and rules from another state can all point a California family in the wrong direction. Assets or income do not automatically mean there is nothing to plan.
California restored asset limits for many non-MAGI Medi-Cal programs on January 1, 2026. The current rules are not the same as the no-asset-limit rules in effect during 2024–2025—and they are not the same as VA benefit rules or another state’s Medicaid rules.
Start with the right question
“Do I qualify?” is usually too simple
Eligibility can depend on the program, the applicant’s living arrangement, countable versus exempt property, income, transfers, marital status, and timing. Some people qualify with a share of cost. Married applicants may have protections designed to reduce impoverishment of the spouse at home.
So do not assume a bank balance, retirement income, real estate, or a pension automatically ends the conversation. It may change the strategy. It does not replace a careful analysis.
For a broader look at care planning, visit our elder law and Medi-Cal planning pages.
What good planning may examine
Legal tools must work together
A transfer that helps one eligibility issue can create a tax problem, break an estate plan, expose property to a child’s risks, or reduce the spouse’s security. We look at the whole picture.
Spousal protections
Evaluate resource and income protections for the spouse at home instead of treating both spouses as if they were a single applicant.
Lawful transfers
Analyze timing, transfer penalties, available exceptions, tax effects, control, and family risk before moving property.
Trust planning
Determine whether an irrevocable trust fits the family’s health, timing, tax, control, and legacy goals—or whether another strategy is better.
Estate recovery exposure
Review title, beneficiary designations, probate exposure, and the limits of California’s estate recovery rules.
The estate plan itself
Coordinate powers of attorney, health directives, trusts, and beneficiary designations so a care plan does not quietly dismantle the family plan.
People are the reason
This work is about families—not forms
Every asset represents years of work, and every care decision affects a network of spouses, children, and grandchildren. The plan should protect those people and the life they built together.
About a “MAPT”
A Medi-Cal Asset Protection Trust is not a magic form
“MAPT” is a planning label commonly used for certain irrevocable trusts. It is not a one-size-fits-all government program, and simply naming a trust does not make assets protected or a person eligible.
In the right case, a carefully designed trust may help protect substantial assets while preserving selected tax or estate-planning benefits that an outright gift could lose. Whether that works depends on the trust language, retained rights, asset type, transfer timing, tax basis, estate inclusion, and the family’s actual goals.
If someone recommends “just give it away” or “put everything in an irrevocable trust” without reviewing taxes, control, spouses, and the existing estate plan, slow down.
What a county worker does—and does not do
County eligibility staff process applications and apply program rules. They are not your lawyer, tax adviser, or estate-planning strategist. Do not expect the application process to design a personalized plan for protecting a spouse, preserving basis, coordinating a trust, or reducing estate recovery exposure.
Their role matters. It is simply different from legal planning.
This is personal
We are planning for a family—not moving numbers on a form
Behind every application is a person who needs dignity and care, plus family members trying to make good decisions under pressure. The home may hold a lifetime of memories. The savings may be the security a spouse depends on.
Good planning keeps those people at the center. It asks who needs income, who needs authority to act, where care may be delivered, what the family hopes to preserve, and which risks are unacceptable.
Why families call us
Protect the applicant. Protect the spouse. Avoid financial ruin.
The family should not have to choose between appropriate care for one spouse and basic financial security for the other. A sound plan addresses both people.
The families most exposed are often responsible middle-class families. They saved, own a home, receive steady income, and assume they have too much for help. But they cannot absorb open-ended long-term-care costs without dismantling the security they spent decades building.
Specialized planning may preserve far more than a generic spend-down approach, but results depend on facts and timing. There is no honest promise that every asset can be protected or that every applicant will qualify.
What we can do is identify the rules that actually apply in California, explain the tradeoffs in plain English, and build a strategy around the family—not around an internet checklist.
What are we protecting?
Choices, independence, and the people who come next
Asset protection is not just about leaving an inheritance. It can mean keeping a spouse secure, preserving a suitable home, maintaining options for care, and preventing one health crisis from financially destabilizing the entire family.
Current California rule snapshot
Assets
Effective January 1, 2026, California restored asset limits for non-MAGI Medi-Cal: generally $130,000 for one person, with additional allowances for household members. The applicable counting rules and exemptions still matter.
Married applicants
DHCS publishes a separate Community Spouse Resource Allowance and monthly maintenance-needs amount. These figures change, and additional court or fair-hearing relief may be available in some cases.
Estate recovery
For deaths on or after January 1, 2017, California generally limits recovery to certain benefits and property in the deceased member’s probate estate, subject to statutory protections and hardship rules.
Reviewed October 2026. Rules, figures, waivers, and program treatment can change. Official references: DHCS: Asset Limit Changes for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal; DHCS: 2026 Community Spouse Resource Allowance; DHCS: Medi-Cal Estate Recovery.
Before You Transfer, Gift, Sell, or Spend Down Anything—Talk to Us
Bring the asset list, income information, existing trust, powers of attorney, and any Medi-Cal notices. We will help you see the California-specific options and the tradeoffs before an irreversible move creates a bigger problem.
This page provides general information, not legal or tax advice. Eligibility and planning results depend on individual facts and current law.