The Claim After A Death
G.S. 108A-70.5 — recovery for institutional care at any age, and certain services from 55, as a sixth-class creditor
What is recovered. The Department recovers for medical care paid on behalf of a recipient of any age who was an inpatient in a nursing facility or similar institution and could not reasonably be expected to return home, and for a recipient 55 years of age or older receiving nursing facility, home and community-based, hospital, prescription drug, or personal care services.
How much, and in what order. Recovery may not exceed the medical assistance paid. The Department is a sixth-class creditor in the order of claims against an estate, though earlier docketed judgments of other sixth-class creditors are paid first.
The estate. For most recipients, the estate is the property available for the payment of debts under the probate statutes. For one who received benefits under a long-term care partnership policy, it reaches assets passed by joint tenancy, survivorship, life estate, living trust and the like.
Waivers. The Department adopts rules to waive recovery when it would work an undue hardship or would not be cost-effective, and to notify recipients when they become eligible that their estates are subject to recovery.
The federal law the section follows, the agency's own rules on hardship, and probate procedure are not on this page. Whether a particular estate owes a claim, or qualifies for a waiver, is a question for a licensed North Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- G.S. 108A-70.5 — The Medicaid Estate Recovery Plan
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed North Carolina attorney.