My mom passed away on Jan 19, 2017, she had cancer and was on both Medicare and Medicaid. My mom was never in a nursing home, although left the hospital with hospice but died the next day. I am selling the home and the realtor that is buying it is doing a Medicaid claim check, which it's been 3 days, my dad's has come back clear so I am a little worried. My disabled brother lived in the house with my mom and still stays in the house with me now. So should I be worried?
- Medicaid is required to attempt a recovery of costs paid for your mom’s care. It sounds like she was on community based Medicaid rather than LTC in a NH Medicaid. The tally for community based care should be lots less than for a NH but still will exist. It could be a small amounts. All states have MERP being done. The sequence is a NOI (notice of intent) letter sent within 2-4 months of death to whomever on file for contact by Medicaid; basically it requires you to let MERP know what the plan is for the home which is now an asset of her estate. If heirs have exemptions to MERP, you let MERP know. Your disabled brother if heir would likely qualify for exemption to MERP. Once exemption approved, MERP should give him a release of their lien / claim, & he can sell house with no title issues.
What I’d be very concerned about if you sell house on your own before clearing MERP, is that the state will hold heirs responsible for the debt. Unless you open probate or deal with getting Exemption done, the state can view mom as having died “intestate”. Intestate means died without a will. And most states have it such that for intestate all assets of the deceased escheat to the state. Escheat means the assets become under the control of the state. So by “selling” house without a formal legal process & keeping the $, means you could be viewed as having defrauded the state of its asset - the house. Stuff like this snowballs..... state can withhold tax refunds, attach income or suspend eligibility for state programs. I’d be very worried as to how selling house affects any state program your disabled brother qualifies for as he is a heir.
- how do you know what accurate value is? The tax assessor places value which folks often use. But if there are issues you can get a legit appraisal done by a Registered & licensed appraiser who places tiger seal on the document. Realtor comps are not a legal substitute for appraisal. Realtor drawing up comps for a property that they are themselves buying is flat unethical.
Just what kind of “realtor” is this? With a well established firm with MLS listing? Or is this a realtor / investor who buys distressed & it’s not actually being sold to an individual but to a LLC? It could be that they have to buy it ASAP as they need to close the title transfer before MERP NOI is mailed out & Medicaid lien surfaces so buyer can say they were ok on the title. But that doesn’t get rid of Medicaid claim against the estate which you got $$ from by selling the house which is an asset of the estate.
- under what legal authority will you be selling the house?
A dpoa stops upon death. If you open probate & are executor, you can sell assets of the estate & do it with a judges orders. Or you do small estates affidavit or muniment of title. They are all legal ways to sell property. So are you doing any of these??
Just what is this person telling you as how to sign the paperwork? And how are they paying for the house..... cash? a check written to you, your brother or to “estate of”?
At a bare minimum you should take the unsigned purchase agreement and have an atty review it and wait to get Medicaid recovery & exemption cleared.
Slow down.Why are you in a rush to sell?