Delaware Medicaid Asset Limit for Nursing Home Care in 2026

Delaware sets one of the lowest Medicaid asset limits in the country for long-term care applicants: $2,000 in countable resources for a single individual. For married couples where both spouses need care, the combined limit is $3,000. These numbers look impossibly low until you understand what Delaware actually counts — and what it doesn't.

What Counts Toward the $2,000 Limit

DMMA tallies these as countable assets:

• Checking and savings account balances
• Certificates of deposit
• Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
• Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s) owned by the applicant
• Cash value of whole life insurance policies
• Real estate other than the primary home
• Any other liquid assets the applicant can convert to cash

The snapshot is taken at the time of application. If your parent has $2,001 in countable resources, they don't qualify.

What's Exempt

The exempt list is where most of the planning happens:

Primary residence — exempt as long as your parent's equity doesn't exceed $752,000 (Delaware uses the lower federal baseline). If a spouse, minor child, or disabled child lives in the home, the equity cap is waived entirely. The home remains exempt even while your parent lives in a nursing facility, as long as they express an intent to return.

One vehicle — one car or truck of any value is exempt. This is an unlimited exemption — a $50,000 truck counts the same as a $5,000 sedan. Additional vehicles are countable.

Household furnishings and personal effects — furniture, clothing, jewelry worn daily. These have no meaningful cap for practical purposes.

Irrevocable prepaid funeral trust — up to $15,000 per person. This is one of the most common spend-down tools: purchasing a prepaid burial plan removes that amount from countable assets permanently.

Term life insurance — policies with no cash surrender value are exempt. Whole life policies with cash value are countable.

Community spouse retirement accounts — this is the one that surprises most families. Under Delaware policy, the IRAs and 401(k)s of the non-applicant spouse are entirely excluded from the applicant's eligibility determination. Your parent's spouse can have $500,000 in a retirement account and it won't affect your parent's Medicaid eligibility.

The Joint Account Trap

DMMA presumes that the entire balance of a joint bank account belongs to the Medicaid applicant unless the non-applicant can prove their contribution. If your parent shares a checking account with a spouse or a child, DMMA counts the whole balance against your parent's $2,000 limit.

The fix is straightforward but must happen before application: separate joint accounts into individual accounts and document who contributed what. Keep statements showing the account history before and after the split.

How Spend-Down Works

If your parent's countable assets exceed $2,000, they need to "spend down" to the limit using transactions that DMMA considers legitimate. Approved spend-down methods include:

• Paying off the mortgage or other personal debts
• Making home repairs and safety modifications (wheelchair ramps, grab bars, walk-in showers)
• Purchasing an irrevocable funeral trust (up to $15,000)
• Buying needed medical equipment or dental work
• Paying legitimate current expenses such as taxes or insurance premiums

Every purchase must be backed by receipts at fair market value. DMMA auditors review spend-down transactions looking for anything that resembles a gift or a below-market sale — those trigger the five-year lookback penalty instead.

The Delaware Medicaid Long-Term Care & Asset Protection Guide includes a spend-down planner worksheet that maps out exactly which exempt purchases to make, in what order, to reach the $2,000 threshold without triggering a penalty.

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