Michigan120503
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MI
My FIL died on 4/6/15. His residence property passed directly to my husband outside of probate (Lady Bird Deed). The only other assets are a couple small bank accounts (approx. $1000) and a 20-year-old car. We don't have access to them yet, but plan to complete the forms and take to banks and SOS to transfer ownership of them to my husband. Anyway, we have already paid $4K for the memorial service & cremation, plus another $1K to come for the burial expenses (having to jump thru hoops to get his ashes buried in a family plot out of town, so glad there is not a time issue on this since he was cremated). His final expenses will be more than the value of his assets, so we are sending letters of insolvency to the hospital, nursing home and other creditors we are receiving bills for. Last week we received (forwarded to us from the USPS) a letter from the State of Michigan. I don't think he was on Medicaid (he was on Medicare), but I know that he did receive some services that the state must have provided such as home health care, etc. so the letter is notifying "the family" (since they do not have our names or address) about Medicaid Estate Recovery. They included a questionnaire they want completed and returned to them, which is basically asking for estate info and to see if any exemptions would apply. The form says right on it that it is VOLUNTARY. I understand that this letter & form are sent to the family of EVERY Medicaid recipient after their death. I have read up on this and from what I can tell, Estate Recovery can only be made from a probated estate. Due to the insolvency, there is nothing to probate.
What should I do about this form? Ignore it? Send a letter of insolvency to the State of MI? They can't get blood from a stone. Since there is nothing to probate and any value of his assets is eaten up by his funeral/burial expenses (1st priority), they're not going have anything left to get reimbursed from.
My FIL died on 4/6/15. His residence property passed directly to my husband outside of probate (Lady Bird Deed). The only other assets are a couple small bank accounts (approx. $1000) and a 20-year-old car. We don't have access to them yet, but plan to complete the forms and take to banks and SOS to transfer ownership of them to my husband. Anyway, we have already paid $4K for the memorial service & cremation, plus another $1K to come for the burial expenses (having to jump thru hoops to get his ashes buried in a family plot out of town, so glad there is not a time issue on this since he was cremated). His final expenses will be more than the value of his assets, so we are sending letters of insolvency to the hospital, nursing home and other creditors we are receiving bills for. Last week we received (forwarded to us from the USPS) a letter from the State of Michigan. I don't think he was on Medicaid (he was on Medicare), but I know that he did receive some services that the state must have provided such as home health care, etc. so the letter is notifying "the family" (since they do not have our names or address) about Medicaid Estate Recovery. They included a questionnaire they want completed and returned to them, which is basically asking for estate info and to see if any exemptions would apply. The form says right on it that it is VOLUNTARY. I understand that this letter & form are sent to the family of EVERY Medicaid recipient after their death. I have read up on this and from what I can tell, Estate Recovery can only be made from a probated estate. Due to the insolvency, there is nothing to probate.
What should I do about this form? Ignore it? Send a letter of insolvency to the State of MI? They can't get blood from a stone. Since there is nothing to probate and any value of his assets is eaten up by his funeral/burial expenses (1st priority), they're not going have anything left to get reimbursed from.
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