Your state's pack. New issue every Monday. Bookmark it. I built this for the Pennsylvania T&E solo who knows Title 20 cold but still loses an afternoon a week tracking the moving Medical Assistance pieces — and who plans around a state with no TOD deed and no homestead exemption but a probate-only recovery program.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments I think actually matter to a Pennsylvania T&E solo. Each has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each comes with a reachable citation so you can verify it yourself before you use it with a client.
Under Act 49 of 1994, 62 P.S. § 1412 and 55 Pa. Code Ch. 258, DHS recovers only against probate-estate property of recipients 55+; jointly owned and beneficiary-designated assets generally pass outside recovery.
This is the structural fact a Pennsylvania Medicaid plan is built around. Keeping the home out of probate — via a funded revocable trust, joint-with-survivorship title, or a life-estate deed — is the recovery play. The malpractice trap is the unfunded trust that leaves the home in the probate estate.
62 P.S. § 1412 (Act 49 of 1994); 55 Pa. Code Ch. 258 · pacodeandbulletin.gov
Pennsylvania does not authorize a transfer-on-death deed for real property (a death-effective deed is treated as testamentary), and it has no general homestead exemption; tenancy by the entirety is the principal residence-protection device for married owners.
Don't draft a TOD deed PA won't recognize. To keep the home out of the probate estate (and thus out of recovery), use a funded trust, joint-with-survivorship title, or a life-estate deed — and lean on tenancy by the entirety for creditor protection during life.
PA: no TOD-deed statute; no state homestead exemption · pa.gov / nolo.com
Maximum CSRA is $162,660 (minimum $32,532); the single-applicant resource limit is $2,000; Pennsylvania applies the $752,000 home-equity limit.
Two places this lands: community-spouse protection math and high-value-home clients. Flag the 2028 OBBBA $1,000,000 flat home-equity cap now.
42 U.S.C. § 1396p · CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
This week in Pennsylvania for the T&E solo with Medical Assistance-planning clients: what the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the PBA Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, and PA DHS put in front of you.
The bar CLE calendar, the DHS estate-recovery updates, and the federal standards all publish on different schedules. This is that sift, already done, with the link on each item.