Q: My Mom was in the nursing home, and was on medicaid for all but 2 months, that was not covered.
Are the adult children responsible for this, when there was nothing in the estate? (In Texas)
A: No. The bill is your mother's bill and the bill of her estate. There may be a problem if the nursing home got someone to sign your mother in as "personal representative" : that makes them personally responsible for her bill. Although the practice is illegal, it is widespread. If this has happened, contact an elder law attorney. You can use the Find a Lawyer function on the website of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org)
Ross F. Tew agrees with this answer
A: No, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program collects against the assets in the estate, not from the deceased person's heirs.
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