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State benefits recovery after death

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kdb4830

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MO

What is the state law pertaining to benefits recovery in the state of Missouri when it comes to probate procedings and joint property owned by the decedent and the decendent's heirs.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


justalayman

Senior Member
do you mean can the state attach a property (real estate) that was jointly owned once the beneficiary of the state benefits dies?


did they start the action prior to the beneficiaries death.


toss in a few more details to help keep everybody from asking 37 questions if you can as well.
 

kdb4830

Junior Member
"did they start the action prior to the beneficiaries death."

No action has been taken. My mother has not passed(and hopefully not for years to come). I am just concerned because when my father passed, I had to sign that he had not collected any state benefits but since my mother has collected state benefits since their divorce that it might be an issue when she passes. Please correct me if I am wrong in thinking that the state can petition the court during probater to collect benefits that she collected.

"do you mean can the state attach a property (real estate) that was jointly owned once the beneficiary of the state benefits dies?"

My father passed and probate awarded his half of our parent's jointly owned property to his surviving children, including me. Therefore, the property is currently jointly owned with my mother and two other siblings.

Can the state force us to sell the property after she passes to recoup the benefits provided to my mother?

Thanks for the quick response, KB :)
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Um, no.

If your mother and father were joint tenants (a legal designation of a type of real estate ownership) of the house, it immediately passed to the surviving joint tenant. The courts cannot award it to anybody so, due to that, you may have some problems. If mom and dad were joint tenants, the property then became moms only.

and a court cannot order a joint tenancy be created. There are requirements to even create a joint tenancy and one of them is the tenants must be willing to create such a tenancy. There are also a few other requirements to be able to create a joint tenancy as well which I do not know if you have met.

so, do you mean there is a joint tenancy or simply that you jointly own the property.
 

kdb4830

Junior Member
Um, no.

If your mother and father were joint tenants (a legal designation of a type of real estate ownership) of the house, it immediately passed to the surviving joint tenant. The courts cannot award it to anybody so, due to that, you may have some problems. If mom and dad were joint tenants, the property then became moms only.

and a court cannot order a joint tenancy be created. There are requirements to even create a joint tenancy and one of them is the tenants must be willing to create such a tenancy. There are also a few other requirements to be able to create a joint tenancy as well which I do not know if you have met.

so, do you mean there is a joint tenancy or simply that you jointly own the property.
Tangent... My understanding of Missouri law was that since they were divorced, his half share of the jointly owned property went to his living heirs. If they had not been divorced, it would have gone to my mother... Am I mistaken?

On topic... Since the property is currently owned by all three siblings and our mother (based on the previous probate). What happens now if she collected state benefits?

Thanks, KB
 

justalayman

Senior Member
.
Am I mistaken?.
yes. A joint tenancy is a joint tenancy until such time the joint tenancy is dissolved. If it was a joint tenancy, the ownership immediately and fully becomes the property of the remaining joint tenant(s) upon the death of any of the joint tenants. Probate does not have any control over the transfer of the property. It cannot even be willed to others. It simple is owned by the remaining joint tenant(s).

well, if it can be determined the probate action was incorrect, the transfer can be reversed and the entire property is open to attachment.

If the state takes action prior to her death, that action can be continued against her estate. If they do not take action prior to her death and your joint tenancy is legit and there has been no fraud or deception in achieving the benefits, once she dies the real estate is no longer part of her estate and no longer able to be taken.

Now, MO does have what is called a tenancy in the entirety that is available only to married couples. If that was the case, I am not positive, and would have to do some research to find out, but that may revert to a tenancy in common upon the dissolution of the marriage. If it had, then your fathers share would be controlled by the laws of probate.

But any parties (basically) can enter into a joint tenancy so it would not be affected by the divorce. Now, there could have been a court order that was followed the parties dissolve the joint tenancy but that does not sound like what happened.
 

kdb4830

Junior Member
Thank you for the informative reply. I would truly be interested in any laws specific to Missouri concerning our situation. At the time of divorce, they were both living out of the state and were told that anything to do with the property would have to be settled in the state. Nothing was ever done that I am aware of before my father passed.

Thanks and have a great day! :)
 

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