If you receive Medicaid benefits, you need to know that the State of Ohio may well seek reimbursement for these benefits from your estate after you die.
Under Rule 5160:1-2-07 of the Ohio Administrative Code, the Ohio Department of Medicaid can file a claim against your estate seeking reimbursement if, after attaining the age of 55, you received any type of Medicaid benefits. It can also claim reimbursement for all Medicaid benefits paid to you at any age if you were permanently institutionalized.
Your estate
Ohio law defines your estate as all real and personal property you own at the time of your death, whether or not it forms part of your probate estate. Consequently, the following property could be subject to estate recovery procedures:
- Property you owned in joint tenancy with someone else
- Property you owned in tenancy in common with someone else
- Property you owned in which someone else had or has a life interest
- Property you conveyed to a survivor, heir or assignee
- Property you conveyed to someone else by means of a living trust
Undue hardship
In certain circumstances, including the following, the State may grant your estate an undue hardship exemption:
- Your estate represents your survivor’s sole asset.
- Recovery would deprive your survivor of necessary food, clothing or shelter.
- Recovery would make your survivor eligible for public assistance
- Your survivor is age 65 or older and financially dependent on your estate’s proceeds.
- Your survivor provided you with substantial personal financial contributions during your lifetime.
In addition, undue hardship exists if your survivor is totally and permanently disabled.
