What happens to a parent's house when they move into a nursing home in Texas?
By Andrew ChavisUpdated November 8, 20267 min readUsually the homestead stays. Texas Tax Code Section 11.13(l) says a home does not lose its homestead character when the owner temporarily stops living there because of residency in a facility that provides services related to health, infirmity, or aging, as long as the owner has not made a different place their principal residence. That branch of the law has no two-year clock and no intent-to-return test. The exemptions, and an over-65 school-tax ceiling, can stay on the house while your parent is in care. What changes the picture is what you do with the house next: leave it empty, rent it, or sell it. Each one has a tax, insurance, and legal side, and the appraisal district is the one that decides whether the absence still counts as temporary.
Why the Homestead Usually Survives a Move Into Care
Section 11.13(l) has two branches. The ordinary one covers any temporary absence: under two years, and only if the owner intends to return. The second branch covers an absence caused by military service or by "residency in a facility that provides services related to health, infirmity, or aging." That branch carries no two-year limit and no intent-to-return requirement. Two conditions still apply to every absence: the owner "temporarily stops occupying" the home, and the owner "does not establish a different principal residence." The law does not define how long temporary can run. That call belongs to the appraisal district, so the safe move is to tell them in writing what changed and ask how they will treat it.
What Is at Stake on a Haslet House
Take a parent over 65 in Haslet, inside Northwest ISD. The school district exempts $140,000 of value for any homestead and another $60,000 for an owner 65 or older. At Northwest ISD's 2026 rate of $1.0638 per $100, those two exemptions keep $2,127.60 a year of school tax off a house worth more than $200,000. The City of Haslet adds its own: 20 percent of the home's value off the city tax for any homestead, plus $50,000 more for an owner 65 or older (Tarrant Appraisal District 2026 rate sheet). Then there is the over-65 school-tax ceiling in Section 11.26, which generally holds the school tax near the amount from the year your parent qualified (it can rise for improvements, and the Legislature has adjusted ceilings when it raised exemptions). On a house held for years, the ceiling can be worth more than the exemptions. All of it attaches to the homestead. If the house stops being your parent's homestead, all of it comes off.
Leaving the House Empty
An empty house keeps the homestead on the terms above, but it has a different problem: insurance. The Texas Department of Insurance home insurance guide says most companies stop coverage if a house is vacant 60 days or more, though liability coverage usually continues. Your own policy's vacancy wording is what controls. Call the carrier the week your parent moves, ask in writing how they treat a house whose owner is in care, and ask what a vacancy endorsement or a vacant-dwelling policy would cost. An empty house also needs someone checking it: the water, the locks, the yard, the mail. A house nobody visits gets noticed.
Renting the House to Cover the Cost of Care
This is the decision most families reach first, and it is the one with the least clear answer. Renting part of a homestead, like a room or a garage apartment, loses the exemption on that part under Section 11.13(k). Renting the whole house is different. A 2001 Texas Attorney General opinion, JC-0415, found that the partial-use rule does not apply when the owner rents the entire residence and is absent. Whether the house is still your parent's homestead then turns on the absence test. That opinion was written under an older version of Section 11.13(l), before the care-facility branch existed in its current form. So nobody can promise you the exemption survives a full rental. Ask the appraisal district in writing before you sign a lease. Then put the rent next to everything the house costs to hold: mortgage, tax with and without the exemptions, insurance on a rented house, repairs, and the months it sits empty between tenants. Renting can cover the gap. It does not always.
Selling the House
Two questions come before the price. First, who can sign. A parent who can still sign can sell. If they cannot, someone needs legal authority, usually a durable power of attorney signed while your parent had capacity, or a guardianship from a court. A Texas attorney should look at the paperwork before a listing agreement goes in front of anyone. Second, Medicaid. If your parent is receiving Medicaid long-term care, the Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program can file a claim against their estate after they pass. HHSC defines that estate as the property subject to probate, and real property may include the home. That program applies to recipients age 55 or older who first applied for certain long-term care services on or after March 1, 2005. Selling can also matter while your parent is alive. HHSC's Medicaid handbook treats the home as an excluded resource in defined situations, and once proceeds from a sale are available, they are counted (section F-3130). So a sale can affect eligibility while your parent is still in care. Talk to a Texas elder-law attorney before you sell, rent, or retitle the house.
Timing: January 1 Usually Decides the Year
Under Tax Code Section 11.42(a), eligibility for most exemptions is decided by the owner's situation on January 1, with exceptions written into the same section. In the usual case, if the appraisal district concludes the house stopped being your parent's homestead, the exemption comes off starting with the next tax year, and the current year's exemption stands. If your parent moves in November or December, settle the January 1 status with the appraisal district before the new year starts.
Before Anyone Decides: Five Calls
1. Tarrant Appraisal District: tell them in writing your parent has moved into care, and ask how they will treat the homestead if the house stays empty, and if it is rented. 2. The insurance carrier: ask about vacancy, and about a rented house. 3. A Texas attorney: confirm who has authority to sign a lease or a deed. 4. A Texas elder-law attorney, if Medicaid is involved or likely. 5. Get two numbers side by side: what the house would rent for, and what it would sell for after costs. Then decide. This page is general information about Texas law as of November 2026. It is not legal, tax, or Medicaid advice and is not a substitute for an attorney who knows your family's facts.
Common Questions
- Does my parent lose the homestead exemption when they move into a nursing home in Texas?
- Usually not. Tax Code Section 11.13(l) keeps the homestead character when the owner temporarily stops living in the home because of residency in a facility that provides services related to health, infirmity, or aging, and has not established a different principal residence. That branch has no two-year limit. The appraisal district decides whether the absence still counts as temporary, so tell them in writing.
- Is there a two-year limit on keeping the homestead while a parent is in assisted living or a nursing home?
- The two-year limit in Section 11.13(l) applies to an ordinary absence. The care-facility branch does not carry it. The word "temporarily" still applies to every absence, and the law does not define how long that is, so the appraisal district makes the call.
- Can I rent out my parent's house while they are in a nursing home and keep the homestead exemption?
- Maybe, and nobody can promise it. Renting part of the house loses the exemption on that part. A 2001 Attorney General opinion, JC-0415, said the partial-use rule does not apply when the owner rents the whole house and is absent, which leaves the question to the absence test. Ask Tarrant Appraisal District in writing before you sign a lease.
- What happens to the over-65 school tax ceiling when a parent moves into care?
- The ceiling in Tax Code Section 11.26 attaches to the residence homestead. While the house keeps its homestead character, the ceiling stays. If it stops qualifying, the ceiling expires as of January 1 of the first year it no longer qualifies. A ceiling can transfer, as a percentage, to a different home your parent later qualifies as a homestead, but a care facility is not one.
- Can Medicaid take my parent's house in Texas?
- The Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program can file a claim against the estate of a Medicaid recipient age 55 or older who first applied for certain long-term care services on or after March 1, 2005. HHSC defines the estate as property subject to probate, and that can include the home. The rules have exceptions and details this page does not cover. Talk to a Texas elder-law attorney before you sell, rent, or retitle the house. Selling can also affect eligibility while your parent is alive: once sale proceeds are available, HHSC counts them as a resource.
- Does an empty house stay insured while my parent is in care?
- Not automatically. The Texas Department of Insurance says most companies stop coverage if a house is vacant 60 days or more, though liability coverage usually continues. Your policy's vacancy wording controls, so call the carrier when your parent moves and ask in writing.
Sources
- Texas Tax Code Section 11.13 (residence homestead; subsection (l) temporary absence, (k) partial use)
- Texas Tax Code Section 11.26 (over-65 school tax ceiling)
- Texas Tax Code Section 11.42 (exemption qualification date, January 1)
- Texas Attorney General Opinion JC-0415 (2001), renting a residence homestead
- Tarrant Appraisal District 2026 tax rates (Northwest ISD $1.0638; City of Haslet exemptions)
- Texas Department of Insurance: home insurance guide (vacancy)
- Texas HHSC Medicaid Estate Recovery Program FAQs
- Texas HHSC Medicaid handbook D-7800, Medicaid Estate Recovery Program
- Texas HHSC Medicaid handbook F-3100, home resource exclusions (F-3130, sale proceeds)
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