What happens when a person in nursing home care sells their principal residence?
The Nursing Homes Support Scheme Office must be notified within 10 working days. The net proceeds of the sale will be included in the financial assessment as cash assets until the person has been in care for 3 years. The net proceeds of sale will no longer be included in the financial assessment once the person has been in care for 3 years. This is called the “net proceeds of sale deductible amount”. This also means that if a person sells their principal residence after the 3 year cap has expired, the net proceeds will become a deductible amount in their financial assessment
https://www2.hse.ie/file-library/fair-deal/nursing-homes-support-scheme-information-booklet.pdf Page 11.
(I think this change was brought in to stop people in nursing homes 'sitting' on their property until they had died.)