---
title: "Vermont Enhanced Life Estate Deed | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/vermont/enhanced-life-estate-deed/
description: "Vermont's 2020 Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act permits a retained-power deed, but it is not a self-executing Medicaid or estate-recovery solution."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
Vermont · Asset Protection Tool

# Vermont Enhanced Life Estate Deed

Last updated 2026-10-20

Vermont codified its Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act in 27 V.S.A. chapter 6, and the law took effect July 13, 2020. Vermont title-industry guidance confirms the Act provides a statutory form for deeds executed on or after that date, giving property owners a standardized way to use this tool.

What makes this deed 'enhanced' compared to a traditional life estate is the retained power it gives the original owner. The record owner conveys title to one or more remaindermen but keeps a life estate for themselves, along with the ongoing ability to sell, mortgage, lease, gift, or otherwise convey the property — the full fee interest or a lesser one — during their lifetime. In Vermont title practice, this same structure goes by several other names too: a Lady Bird deed, a Ladybird Johnson deed, a Granai deed, a Medicaid deed, or a Barre deed, depending on who you're talking to. Whatever it's called, it's a title-law mechanism, and using it wisely still requires thinking through how it interacts with Medicaid eligibility, potential tax consequences, creditor exposure, and estate recovery — it doesn't resolve any of those questions automatically.

## Sources and official resources

- [Vermont DVHA: Long-Term Care](https://dvha.vermont.gov/members/long-term-care)
- [U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p)
- [CMS: 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards](https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib04272026.pdf)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.

[← Back to the full Vermont guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/vermont/)