Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Oregon
my brother passed away last month and had a bank acct that nobody knew about but me, i was going to file for estate tomorrow but i heard through the grapevine that because he had medicare and medicade that they will take the money anyway, so my question is. do i bother spending the 135 dollars to file for the estate if medicare and medicade will take it anyway? or am i wrong about them going after it at all?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, the State usually tries to recover Medicaid funds, and may very well have a claim against your brother's estate. You would need to get all of the facts and then determine whether Medicaid has a valid claim at this time, how much that claim is, how much money is in the bank account, and whether it will be worth it to go after the bank account. You would want to determine if any other assets need to be probated, or whether you could use an Affidavit of Heirship or a Small Estate Proceeding to avoid filing for a full-blown probate.