Illinois Spousal Income Allowance
Once my spouse is on Medicaid in a nursing home, how much of our income do I keep? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form to fill in.
2026 law · Reviewed September 4, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · the terms · All tools
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Both spouses' monthly incomes in; the allowance, the income shifted, the spouse at home's total, and the patient's share to the facility out. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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- In plain words.
- When one spouse is in a nursing home on Medicaid, their income goes to the nursing home as their share of the cost, except for a small personal allowance. But Illinois first makes sure the spouse still at home has enough to live on: if that spouse's own income is below a set monthly allowance, the difference is moved over from the spouse in care before the nursing home is paid. This tool takes both incomes and shows the split.
- Why it matters.
- The fear of the spouse at home is being left with nothing. The allowance is the answer to that fear, and knowing the number changes how a couple plans the move into care.
- An example.
- The spouse at home has $1,500 a month of their own; the spouse in care has $4,000. About $2,567 shifts to the spouse at home, bringing them to about $4,067 a month; the spouse in care keeps $60; the nursing home receives about $1,373 and Medicaid pays the rest.
- Where it stops.
- It covers income, not assets, which the runway and penalty tools handle. It does not model a shortfall claim for more assets at a hearing, court-ordered support, or the rules for home care instead of a nursing home.
The facts
Six quotable sentences on the spouse at home's income, 2026.
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- Once a spouse is on Illinois Medicaid in a nursing home, their income goes to the facility as the patient's share, less a personal needs allowance of $60 a month, and less whatever the spouse at home is allowed to keep.
- Illinois grants the spouse at home the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance the federal rules permit, $4,066.50 a month for 2026: if the spouse at home's own income is below it, the difference is shifted from the spouse in care before the facility is paid.
- Example: the spouse at home has $1,500 a month of their own; the spouse in care has $4,000. $2,566.50 shifts to the spouse at home, bringing them to $4,066.50; the spouse in care keeps $60; the facility receives $1,373.50.
- The spouse at home's own income is never taken: the name-on-the-check rule. Only the institutionalized spouse's income is divided.
- If the spouse in care's income is too small to bring the spouse at home up to the allowance, the shortfall can justify keeping more assets (a higher resource allowance) at a fair hearing, which is where an elder-law attorney earns the fee.
- The allowance is a floor, not a ceiling: a spouse at home whose own income already exceeds it keeps all of it and receives nothing from the spouse in care.
Where the income goes, 2026
The allowances, in order, before the facility is paid.
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| Item | Amount | Who keeps it |
|---|---|---|
| The spouse at home's own income | All of it | The spouse at home |
| Community spouse maintenance allowance | $4,066.50 a month, less the spouse at home's own income | Shifted to the spouse at home from the spouse in care |
| Personal needs allowance | $60 a month | The spouse in care |
| Patient pay | Whatever remains of the spouse in care's income | The facility; Medicaid pays the rest |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Illinois Spousal Income Allowance," reviewed September 4, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#facts
- Where the income goes https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#key-numbers
- How the allowance works https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#how-it-works
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/illinois-spousal-income-allowance#revision-history
Everything here reads from one reviewed record, so a copied piece carries its year and its review date. When the law moves, the embed updates by itself; a copied table or chart keeps the year in its caption. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.