What is the best way to protect my biggest asset, my home, in the event my husband or myself have to go into a nursing home?

If you sell your house to your son for less than fair market value and one of you needs Medicaid nursing home care within five years, either your son can give the home back (which may not happen:  he may have creditors who attach the home) or Medicaid will not pay for your care for the fair market value of the home divided by about $200.  For example, if you sold your home for $1 and the fair market value is $200,000, Medicaid will not pay for 1,000 days -- about three years. If you put your house in a trust, Medicaid will count it as an asset and you will have to sell it and spend down to $2,000 in assets before Medicaid will pay. In Texas, however, your house outside a trust will not count against you in determining nursing home Medicaid eligibility as long as you have an intent to return. To preserve your house from Medicaid Estate Recovery after both of you have passed, sign a Transfer on Death or a Lady Bird Deed before a notary and record it in the county deed records.  Title companies tend to prefer the former, which does not come with title insurance.  Elder lawyers often prefer the latter, which does come with title insurance and which can be signed by an agent under a Durable Power of Attorney.