(a) Any assistance paid to or in behalf of any person under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, General Assistance, Food Benefits and Medicaid programs in excess of that to which the person is entitled under the program or programs shall be recoverable by the Department of Health and Social Services (the Department) for the State in a civil action against such person or the person’s estate in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 114

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302

(b) Any judgment entered for the Department in an action brought under this section shall include an award for the court costs of the action. That portion of the judgment that constitutes the court costs of the action shall be remitted by the Department to the State Treasurer.

(c) The Department shall not be required to pay the filing fee or other costs of an action brought under this section and shall not be required to pay fees of any nature or to file a bond or other security of any nature in connection with such action or with proceedings supplementary thereto or as a condition precedent to the availability to the Department of any process in aid of such action or proceedings.

(d) Any judgment entered in any court of competent jurisdiction for the Department pursuant to a confession of judgment regarding any assistance paid to or in behalf of any person under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, General Assistance, Food Benefits and Medicaid programs in excess of that to which the person is entitled under the program or programs or regarding any amount of money due under an agreement relating to any assistance paid to or in behalf of any person under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, General Assistance, Food Benefits and Medicaid programs in excess of that to which the person is entitled under the program or programs shall include an award for the court costs of such judgment. That portion of such judgment that constitutes the court costs of such judgment shall be remitted by the Department to the State Treasurer.

(e) The Department shall not be required to pay the filing fee or other costs related to any procedure to obtain judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to a confession of judgment governed by subsection (d) of this section and shall not be required to pay fees of any nature or to file a bond or other security of any nature in connection with any such procedure.

66 Del. Laws, c. 287, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 81 Del. Laws, c. 367, § 1;