Medicaid does not usually seize your house at the moment you die. The state Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) instead files a claim against your estate for nursing home, HCBS waiver, and related costs paid after age 55. The family home is often the largest asset left because it was exempt during life. Heirs may keep the deed if they pay or negotiate the claim, qualify for federal deferral while a surviving spouse lives, or win a hardship waiver. Georgia reaches many non-probate assets, not only Chatham County probate files.
Medicaid agencies do not send a crew to change the locks the week of the funeral. They send paper. The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program bills the estate for long-term care Medicaid already paid, not for the full Zillow price of the neighborhood.
Congress tied recovery to age 55 and LTSS categories in 42 U.S.C. § 1396p. Nursing facility services, HCBS waiver services, and related hospital and prescription drug costs land on the ledger. The claim runs through the estate administration process, not through your daughter's paycheck in Pooler.
Evelyn, 82, died in a Savannah skilled nursing facility in February 2026 after four years of Georgia Medicaid. Her son Marcus held a $318,000 bungalow on Washington Avenue that DFCS had exempted on every redetermination because Evelyn signed intent to return and held equity below Georgia's 2026 nursing-home cap of $713,000. Marcus assumed exemption meant the state waived the house. Two months later, Georgia Department of Community Health mailed a Notice of Intent to pursue estate recovery for $127,400 in LTSS costs.
The house was not "taken" overnight. Marcus faced a choice: open probate, negotiate the claim, seek hardship relief, or sell and pay DCH from proceeds. Read our Medicaid estate recovery explained guide for federal deferrals and lien types that pair with this post-death timeline.
Common mistake:Cashing out Evelyn's IRA and splitting it among siblings before anyone reads the DCH envelope. Expanded-estate states can bill assets that never entered probate, and early distributions can disqualify hardship relief.
Eligibility workers at Georgia DFCS and recovery staff at Georgia DCH sit in different offices with different forms. DFCS closed Evelyn's Medicaid case at death. DCH's Estate Recovery Unit picked up the LTSS ledger and matched it to Chatham County property records.
Families in Savannah usually see a notice within weeks to a few months of death, though backlog varies by county. The letter states the approximate Medicaid paid on covered services, cites federal authority, and points heirs toward probate or administrative claim procedures. It is not a foreclosure notice, but title companies treat an unpaid MERP claim like other estate debts.
Marcus filed for letters of administration in Chatham County Probate Court because Evelyn died without a will. The court appointed him personal representative before he listed the Washington Avenue home. DCH asked for a copy of the appointment and a preliminary asset inventory.
Pre-death asset math still matters for context. Evelyn qualified with $1,600 in checking against Georgia's $2,000 individual resource cap. The Georgia Medicaid spend down calculator models that application worksheet; it does not forecast MERP claim size or probate priority.
Federal law blocks estate recovery while certain relatives survive the Medicaid recipient. Recovery cannot run while a living spouse remains, regardless of where that spouse lives. It also stops while a child under 21 survives, or while a blind or permanently disabled child of any age survives under Social Security definitions.
Deferral freezes collection. It does not erase the claim. Robert in Brunswick received nursing facility Medicaid for three years. His wife Linda, 79, still lived in their Glynn County ranch. Georgia DCH deferred recovery while Linda survived. When Linda died in 2028, DCH mailed a new notice because no federal deferral remained on Robert's file.
Community Spouse Resource Allowance rules during Robert's admission let Linda keep up to $162,660 in joint savings in 2026. That spousal impoverishment math protected assets during life. It did not cap the dollar amount DCH tracked for later recovery when both spouses were gone.
Evelyn was already widowed when she entered the Savannah facility, so Marcus had no spousal deferral. He did research whether Evelyn's disabled younger sister in Valdosta qualified for federal deferral as a blind sibling resident. That sister block applies to life liens more often than post-death MERP, but occupancy facts still matter in hardship filings. See Medicaid estate recovery exemptions for the full deferral and hardship list.
Probate is the court process that names a personal representative, pays valid debts, and clears title. MERP is one of those debts when LTSS Medicaid was paid after age 55. Georgia law ranks claims in a priority order. MERP does not jump ahead of secured mortgages, certain family allowances, or reasonable administration costs, but it can consume what is left in a modest estate.
Marcus opened ancillary probate in Chatham County because Evelyn's name sat alone on the deed. He published notice to creditors, gathered the DCH claim, and waited for the court to approve a distribution plan. A buyer in Forsyth Park asked for a title commitment. The commitment listed the open MERP file until Marcus negotiated a payoff or secured a hardship waiver.
Small-estate shortcuts exist when total assets fall below Georgia thresholds, but a $318,000 homestead usually forces full administration. Skipping probate does not make MERP vanish in an expanded-estate state. DCH can still pursue non-probate interests.
Compare Georgia's path with Florida, where AHCA contractors often file strictly probate claims. A daughter in Jacksonville may keep a TOD deed home outside MERP while Marcus in Savannah cannot assume the same outcome. Our Medicaid estate recovery by state article contrasts probate-only and expanded-estate execution.
| Step | Who acts | Why it matters for the house |
|---|---|---|
| Order death certificates | Funeral home / family | Banks and DCH need certified copies before releasing files |
| Open probate in county of residence | Personal representative | Court authority to sell real property and pay MERP |
| Read first DCH estate recovery notice | Executor and counsel | Deadlines for hardship or dispute responses start here |
| Inventory deeds, POD accounts, and beneficiary IRAs | Executor | Georgia expanded estate may bill non-probate items |
| Request payoff quote from DCH | Executor | Title company needs MERP resolution before closing |
| Close sale or transfer after claims ranked | Probate court order | Heirs keep net equity only after valid debts pay |
Common mistake:Signing a contract to sell Washington Avenue before letters of administration issue. Buyers and lenders expect a personal representative with court authority, not a grieving son acting on verbal family consent.
Georgia elected expanded estate recovery rules that reach many assets passing outside a will. Joint bank accounts with survivorship, transfer-on-death deeds, payable-on-death investment accounts, and some living trust interests can still generate a MERP worksheet even when Chatham probate looks thin.
Evelyn's $42,000 credit union account listed Marcus as POD beneficiary. The credit union released funds directly to him. DCH asked whether Evelyn retained incidents of ownership and whether the account should offset the recovery claim. Marcus had to document signature cards and deposit history.
A TEFRA life lien recorded while Evelyn lived in the facility is a separate tool from post-death recovery. Georgia may pursue both concepts on different timelines. Read Medicaid lien on home if a recorder's index shows a Medicaid lien before death.
Homestead rules at application still help families plan earlier. Intent to return, equity caps, and protected residents kept Evelyn's deed off the countable list. Those rules live in our is your home exempt from Medicaid article and the Medicaid exempt assets guide. None of them automatically delete MERP after the funeral.
Heirs keep the house when someone pays valid MERP claims from estate assets, negotiates a compromise DCH will accept, or wins an undue hardship waiver. Federal law requires every state to offer hardship procedures, though income tests and occupancy proof differ.
Marcus explored selling Evelyn's Buick and using her $18,000 life insurance to fund a partial payoff while he listed the bungalow. Another sibling wanted a reverse mortgage on the home before probate closed. Both paths needed court approval and a current DCH payoff letter.
Hardship arguments often lean on heir income near poverty guidelines, long-term occupancy, or disability in the household. Georgia expects documentation with the first response, not a story told six months later after proceeds were spent.
Pre-death planning cannot erase MERP, but lawful spend-down into exempt equity, caregiver-child deed timing, and look-back compliance change what sits in the estate at death. Read protect home from Medicaid estate recovery for strategy bounds, and confirm transfers with counsel before you mimic a Florida snowbird deed plan in Georgia.
Georgia DCH recovers from the expanded estate, similar to Ohio and Pennsylvania, not only from assets listed in Chatham probate. Florida AHCA and Texas HHSC contractors often limit collection to probate property and follow agency practice against post-death homestead liens.
A Jacksonville son who inherits through a beneficiary deed may never open probate on mom's condo. Marcus in Savannah with sole-name deed almost always must open probate to convey clean title, and DCH may still reach POD cash.
Texas MERP publishes extra bars, such as skipping filing when total LTSS costs fall below $3,000 or the estate is worth $10,000 or less. Georgia thresholds and hardship forms differ. Confirm current dollar tests on the Georgia DCH estate recovery page before you rely on a neighbor's Texas outcome.
Use the Florida or Texas calculator only when the parent actually filed in that state. Evelyn filed in Georgia, so Marcus started with the Georgia tool for historical asset context, not for MERP forecasting.
Georgia DCH runs expanded estate recovery and coordinates with county probate courts such as Chatham, Glynn, and Fulton. A Savannah sole-name deed usually forces probate before sale, while POD accounts may still draw DCH worksheets. Model pre-death countable assets on the Georgia calculator using the $2,000 individual cap and 2026 home equity cap of $713,000 when no protected resident lives in the house.
Florida limits many MERP collections to probate assets under AHCA contractor practice. A Naples homestead exempt on the ICP worksheet can still become the main probate target after death. Families comparing Evelyn's Savannah file to a parent in Lee County should open the Florida calculator for resource math only.
Texas HHSC MERP files Class 7 probate claims and does not rely on post-death homestead liens under current published policy. Hardship relief can apply when homestead value sits under $100,000 and heir income falls below HHSC limits. Run the Texas calculator when the admission state is Texas, not Georgia.
Ohio Department of Medicaid mirrors the $713,000 equity cap for institutional cases and uses expanded-estate recovery like Georgia. A Cleveland bungalow below the cap during life does not block MERP after both spouses die. The Ohio calculator totals countable assets separate from post-death claims.
Common mistake:Using a Georgia hardship form for a parent who received Pennsylvania LTSS in Allegheny County. Match recovery defense to the certifying state agency, not where the funeral was held.
Spend Down Calculator pages estimate countable resources and community spouse allowances before Medicaid approval. They use published 2026 caps, such as Georgia's $2,000 individual limit and spousal impoverishment figures, for planning snapshots today.
The tools do not project MERP claim amounts, Chatham probate fees, DCH hardship outcomes, or look-back penalties. Treat output as eligibility math, then confirm post-death exposure with Georgia DCH and local probate counsel.
Start with the Georgia, Florida, Texas, or Ohio page for the state that certified the nursing home or waiver stay. Pair results with our Medicaid estate recovery explained guide before you promise heirs the house is free of every Medicaid rule.
No agency seizes real property at death in the way a tax foreclosure might. Georgia DCH and other state MERP units mail notices and file claims against the estate. Heirs may keep the home if they pay or settle the claim, qualify for ongoing federal deferral, or obtain a hardship waiver. Title cannot clear for a sale until the claim is resolved or ranked in probate.
Timing varies by backlog, but families often receive DCH correspondence within weeks to a few months of the Medicaid case closing. Probate should begin promptly so a personal representative can respond before heirs distribute POD accounts or list the homestead. Missing the first notice deadline can limit hardship options.
Homestead exemption answers the resource test during life under separate rules from 42 U.S.C. § 1396p estate recovery. Evelyn's Savannah bungalow stayed off the countable worksheet while she lived in a facility and signed intent to return. After death, the same deed became the main asset available to satisfy LTSS recovery.
Federal law defers recovery while a surviving spouse lives. Linda in Brunswick blocked MERP on Robert's file until she died. When the spouse is gone, DCH can pursue assets that were protected only during deferral. Spousal impoverishment allowances during admission are a different statute from post-death deferral.
Skipping probate does not block expanded-estate recovery. Georgia can reach joint accounts, some beneficiary designations, and other non-probate transfers while still billing probate assets. A sole-name Savannah deed usually requires probate to convey marketable title even when DCH also pursues separate accounts.
A TEFRA life lien may record while someone is permanently institutionalized and no protected relative lives in the home. Estate recovery bills the estate after death for LTSS paid after age 55. Some states record post-death liens to secure the claim. Georgia heirs should search recorder indexes and read MERP notices to learn which tools apply.
Yes, when the personal representative pays a valid claim from estate assets, negotiates a DCH compromise, or secures a hardship waiver before distributing proceeds. Marcus could use life insurance, other inherited property, or sale proceeds from the bungalow itself after court-approved administration. Early informal payouts among siblings can complicate payoff math.
