A California appeals court holds that the state's claim against a Medicaid recipient's estate filed three years after death was timely because notice of the death was not sent in conjunction with a probate proceeding. McClelland v. Director of Department of Health Care Services (Cal. Ct. App., 2nd Dist., Div. 4, No. B262745, June 24, 2016).
Christine McClelland put her house into a revocable trust, naming her son as co-trustee. She received Medicaid benefits for several years until she died. In April 2010, the attorney informed the state by letter of Ms. McClelland's death, but the letter did not identify a court proceeding. The state sent several demand letters to Ms. McClelland's trustees and the trust's attorney.
In 2013, the state filed a claim to collect Medicaid payments from Ms. McClelland's estate, and a court subsequently ordered the estate to pay $61,358.87. The estate appealed, arguing that the state's lawsuit was untimely because under state law, once the state received notice of a Medicaid recipient's death, it had four months to file a claim. The estate also argued that the state was not entitled to recover from Ms. McClelland's house because the caretaker exception applied.
The California Court of Appeals affirms, holding that the claim was timely filed and that the caretaker exemption does not apply. The court rules that the letter to the state did not constitute proper notice and the four-month statute of limitations did not apply because the letter was not sent in conjunction with a probate proceeding. The court also rules that the caretaker exemption does not apply because Ms. McClelland's son did not fill out the hardship waiver form, which is required to receive the exemption.
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B262745.PDF
Did you know that the ElderLawAnswers database now contains summaries of more than 2,000 fully searchable elder law decisions dating back to 1993? To search the database, click here.
Subscribe to the Knowledge Bank.
