I was wondering if I had I could lose my primary residence if I had a lengthy hospital stay and could not pay for it. By the way, I live alone in Missouri. I have no kids Also, what would happen if my sister’s name was on the house. Would that change anything? Or what other measures could I take to protect myself from losing my house.

Thanks,

I assume that you are referring to making the mortgage payments while you're in the hospital. Yes, if you default on your mortgage, the lender can take steps to foreclose and re-possess the home. You might be able to add someone to the title, but I doubt that you can transfer title out of your name and into your sister's (the lender won't let you give away the security for the loan). If you feel that you are getting into trouble, the best thing you can do may be to be upfront with the mortgage company and negotiate a refinancing or a repayment schedule.

My house is paid off. And I'm not in trouble. I was just wondering if they could come after my assets?

Thanks very much.

Are you referring to the hospital or doctors coming after your assets? Yes, they can do this. They would generally have to take you to court for non-payment and then obtain a lien against the house. Generally, the courts frown upon transfers of assets for the sole purpose of avoiding debt (if you were to put the house in your sister's name) and have the power to undo such transfers. The legal concept is called fraudulent conveyance and refers to any transfers of assets without consideration of value for the purpose of delaying or hindering creditors. Again, the best thing you can do is to work with the creditors to negotiate a payment schedule.

It is possible, but in most cases hospitals do not come after homes unless the party who was the patient is dead and has no widow to claim life estate in the home. what would happen is that a judgment for the unpaid medical bills could be entered, then a lien placed against the home and that lien foreclosed on. In some parts of the country, I have read that this is happening. however, states with strong homestead rights usually do not allow this or limit the situations under which something like this could occur. If you are concerned about this, I suggest that you consult with a real estate attorney and a bankruptcy attorney. You may even want to talk to an estate attorney. There are strategies you can take.