State That Has Not Expanded Definition of Estate May Still Recover Non-Probate Asset

A Missouri appeals court finds that the state may use an accounting statute to recover Medicaid benefits from a decedent's estate even though the only asset is a non-probate asset and Missouri has not expanded its definition of estate to include non-probate assets. In Re Estate of Jones (Mo. Ct. App., W.D., No. 69310, Jan. 13, 2009).

Wallace Jones was a nursing home resident who received Medicaid benefits. When he died, his only asset was his home, which passed to his children through a beneficiary deed. The state claimed Mr. Jones's estate owed it money for Medicaid benefits and filed a claim with the court, asking it to open probate.

After probate was opened, the state requested an action for accounting under a state statute that provides that a recipient of the decedent's property is liable to account for a share of that property to discharge any creditor's claims. Mr. Jones's children argued that Mr. Jones's property passed outside of probate and that because the state had not expanded its definition of estate recovery to include non-probate assests, it could not recover the benefits. The probate court allowed the petition for accounting, and the estate appealed.

The Missouri Court of Appeals affirms, holding that the state may pursue an accounting. According to the court, the relevant issue was not whether the state had expanded the definition of estate recovery, but whether the estate recovery statute allowed the state to proceed with an accounting. The court concludes that the legislature and previous court decisions indicate that the accounting statute should be treated as a proceeding under the probate code and may be used to recover Medicaid benefits from Mr. Jones's estate.

For the full text of this decision in PDF, go to: https://www.courts.mo.gov/file/Opinion_WD69310.pdf
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