One generous gift can cost months of care.

Medicaid reviews five years of your family's finances when someone applies for long-term care. Gifts and below-market sales inside that window trigger a penalty: a stretch of time where Medicaid pays nothing. Enter a number and see what it would mean in your state.

Your state

Your region

Amount gifted or transferred

Estimates based on 2026 state penalty divisors. Free, instant, no email needed for the number.

The penalty

Some transfers don't count.

Spousal transfers, the caregiver child exemption, and a handful of other exceptions can change this math entirely. There are also legal ways to cure a penalty after the fact. Get the full breakdown plus the free GrayBrief guide for your state:

Free. No spam. Written with input from elder law attorneys and RNs.

What counts as a transfer?

More than most families expect. Inside the five-year window, all of these are reviewable:

Cash gifts, even small ones. The IRS annual gift exclusion has nothing to do with Medicaid. A birthday check to a grandkid counts.

Selling anything below market value. The house sold to a son for a dollar, the car handed to a niece. Medicaid counts the difference.

Adding a child to a deed or account. Putting a kid on the bank account can be treated as giving away half the balance.

Funding most trusts. Moving assets into an irrevocable trust inside the window is generally treated as a gift.

And what doesn't.

The rules cut both ways. A few transfers are protected, and knowing them is where families save real money:

Transfers between spouses. Moving assets from the applicant to the healthy spouse does not violate the lookback.

The caregiver child exemption. In certain cases, a home can be transferred to an adult child who lived there and provided care.

Curing a penalty. If gifted funds are returned, states can reduce or eliminate the penalty. The rules vary by state.

The calculator shows the risk. GrayBrief shows the plan.

The full course covers the lookback, the legal planning tools that still work, and the conversation to have before anyone moves a dollar. Plus the app and a call with a real elder care professional. $97 for a limited time only.

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The fine print, in plain English: This calculator is educational, not legal or financial advice. Estimates use 2026 penalty divisors compiled by the American Council on Aging (updated July 2026). Divisors change annually, on different schedules in different states, and a few states set them by facility or region. The lookback and penalty rules also carry state-specific exceptions that can change the outcome entirely. Before making or unwinding any transfer, talk to an elder law attorney in your state. Your GrayBrief state guide includes how to find one.

What counts as a transfer?

And what doesn't.

The calculator shows the risk. GrayBrief shows the plan.

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