Five years: that's the Medicaid "look-back" period, or the period of time during which Medicaid could potentially reverse any transaction not made for fair market value (that is, where the person acquiring an interest in the home did not pay the fair value of the share or interest in the home) and take the home for Medicaid bills. While that period of time applies only specifically to Medicaid, not, say, a lien from a private hospital or care provider, it would be used as guidance for how long in advance the transaction should be done to show that it was not done to defraud the care provider. (All states have laws that say that non-fair-market value transactions done with any awareness of an actual or likely future debt can be set aside as fraudulent to the creditors.) Unfortunately, "asset protection," like putting a home in a child's name, needs to be done well in advance (years in advance) of when you might need it.