Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
Medical assistance: means :
(a)
all funds expended for the benefit of a recipient under this chapter or Titles XVIII and XIX, federal Social Security Act; and
(b)
any other services provided for the benefit of a recipient by a prepaid health care delivery system under contract with the department. See Utah Code 26B-3-1001
Recipient: means :
(a)
an individual who has applied for or received medical assistance from the state;
(b)
the guardian, conservator, or other personal representative of an individual under Subsection (11)(a) if the individual is a minor or an incapacitated person; or
(c)
the estate and survivors of an individual under Subsection (11)(a), if the individual is deceased. See Utah Code 26B-3-1001
Recovery estate: means , regarding a deceased recipient:
(a)
all real and personal property or other assets included within a decedent's estate as defined in Section 75-1-201;
(b)
the decedent's augmented estate as defined in Section 75-2-203; and
(c)
that part of other real or personal property in which the decedent had a legal interest at the time of death including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the decedent through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement. See Utah Code 26B-3-1001
State plan: means the state Medicaid program as enacted in accordance with Title XIX, federal Social Security Act. See Utah Code 26B-3-1001
Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(a)
Except as provided in Subsection (1)(b), upon a recipient‘s death, the department may recover from the recipient’s recovery estate and any trust, in which the recipient is the grantor and a beneficiary, medical assistance correctly provided for the benefit of the recipient when the recipient was 55 years old or older.
(b)
The department may not make an adjustment or a recovery under Subsection (1)(a):
(i)
while the deceased recipient’s spouse is still living; or
(ii)
if the deceased recipient has a surviving child who is:
(A)
under 21 years old; or
(B)
blind or disabled, as defined in the state plan.
(2)
(a)
The amount of medical assistance correctly provided for the benefit of a recipient and recoverable under this section is a lien against the deceased recipient’s recovery estate or any trust when the recipient is the grantor and a beneficiary.
(b)
The lien holds the same priority as reasonable and necessary medical expenses of the last illness as provided in Section 75-3-805.
(3)
(a)
For a lien described in Subsection (2), the department shall provide notice in accordance with Section 38-12-102.
(b)
Before final distribution, the department shall perfect the lien as follows:
(i)
for an estate, by presenting the lien to the estate’s personal representative in accordance with Section 75-3-804; and
(ii)
for a trust, by presenting the lien to the trustee in accordance with Section 75-7-510.
(c)
The department may file an amended lien before the entry of the final order to close the estate or trust.
(4)
Claims against a deceased recipient’s inter vivos trust shall be presented in accordance with Sections 75-7-509 and 75-7-510.
(5)
Any trust provision that denies recovery for medical assistance is void at the time of its making.
(6)
Nothing in this section affects the right of the department to recover Medicaid assistance before a recipient’s death under Section 26B-3-1003 or 26B-3-1014.
(7)
A lien imposed under this section is of indefinite duration.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 306, 2023 General Session
