The Claim After A Death
Soc. Serv. Law § 369 — recovery from the estate of a person fifty-five or older, after a surviving spouse, and not while certain children survive
No lien during life, with exceptions. No lien may be imposed on a person's property during life on account of medical assistance, except by a court judgment for benefits incorrectly paid, or on the real property of a person in a nursing facility or other medical institution who is not reasonably expected to return home. The lien dissolves on discharge and return home.
- A spouse.
- A child under twenty-one years of age, or blind or permanently and totally disabled.
- A sibling with an equity interest who lived in the home for at least one year immediately before the admission.
No lien may be imposed on the home while one of those persons is lawfully residing there.
Recovery from the estate. Recovery is pursued from the estate of a person who was fifty-five years of age or older when receiving assistance, and on the sale of property subject to a lien or from the estate of the institutionalized person.
Only after the spouse. Recovery is made only after the death of a surviving spouse, and only when there is no surviving child under twenty-one years of age or blind or permanently and totally disabled.
The home and caregivers. Recovery on a lien on the home also waits while a sibling who lived there at least one year before the admission, or a child who lived there at least two years and provided care that let the person stay home, has lawfully and continuously resided there since.
The section requires recovery to be waived in cases of undue hardship, as determined under the department's regulations; those criteria, and the claim procedure in a particular estate, are not on this page. A particular estate is a question for the surrogate's court, or a licensed New York attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Soc. Serv. Law § 369 — Application of other provisions
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New York attorney.