Walk It Through: The Small Estate

A parent dies without a will, with a bank account and no house, and a Medicaid claim after.

A widowed mother dies without a will. Her adult children survive her, and there is no spouse.

Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.

One parent's estate with no house and no will. Real property, community property, a surviving spouse's larger limit, and how undue hardship is defined are not worked through here.

A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.

Words this turns on

Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.

Intestate successionWho takes a decedent's estate when there is no will. With children and no spouse, the estate goes all to one child or equally to all of them; with a spouse and one child, half each.
Small estate affidavitAn affidavit by which a person entitled to inherit collects a decedent's property in the State 40 days after the death, without letters of administration or probate, where there is no real property here and the property does not exceed $25,000, or $150,000 for a surviving spouse.
Estate recoveryThe Medicaid agency recovering benefits correctly paid for a recipient from the recipient's estate, as far as federal law allows.
Full cash valueThe value an owner compares with the taxable value computed for the property; where it is less, the owner may appeal to the county board of equalization not later than January 15.