Heirs Unable to Show That Lien Would Cause Undue Hardship

A Medicaid recipient's daughters were not entitled to notice of an impending lien on their late mother's home and failed to demonstrate that the lien recovery would result in any further impoverishment. In the Matter of the Estate of Frink (Wash. Ct., App., Div. 3, No. 21744-2-III, Dec. 30, 2003). unpublished opinion

At the time of her death in 1998 at age 80, Alma Frink was the sole owner of the home she lived in. After learning of Ms. Frink's death, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services Department filed a lien against Ms. Frink's property to recover $48,983 in Medicaid expenditures made on Ms. Frink's behalf. Ms. Frink's daughter, Pamela Holling, requested that the lien be removed, explaining that it created an undue hardship on the remaining family, particularly her disabled sister, Roberta Frink. Ms. Holling said that Ms. Frink requested at the time of her death that Roberta be given her property so she would have somewhere to live in the future. Roberta owned her own home with Ms. Holling, but she planned to move out of the property and file for bankruptcy. (No valid will was presented at a subsequent hearing and no probate of Ms. Frink's estate had been opened at the time of the hearing.)

Ms. Holling and Roberta, as Ms. Frink's heirs, claimed that the Department lacked authority to assess the lien without first notifying them, and that their undue hardship qualified for waiver of lien recovery. The superior court held that the heirs were not entitled to notice and that no undue hardship resulted from the lien. The heirs appealed.

The Court of Appeals of Washington affirms. The court holds that the notice was adequate since Ms. Frink was aware that the Department could legally recover from her estate, the heirs were not titleholders to the property before her death, and there was no personal representative who could challenge the lien filing. The court also rules that the heirs failed to show that any further impoverishment or dire financial situation than already existed would result from lien recovery. "In essence," the court writes, "the heirs did not go beyond showing that the lien would merely cause inconvenience to family members or restrict their lifestyle."

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