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My father passed away in January, following several years of nursing home care, partially paid for by the California Medi-Cal program. I just received notification from the VA that I am the beneficiary of an $11,000 life insurance policy I was not aware of, and was not included as an asset of my father's when he applied for Medi-Cal. I have just received a form from the California Dept. of Health Care Services which includes questions regarding my deceased father's assets. He left nothing but a few personal effects (photos, yearbooks, etc.) and a few hundred dollars in a joint bank account which I used to fly down to California and manage his memorial service. How should the life insurance issue be handled with regard to the Medi-Cal/DHS questionaire? Should I write a letter of explanation to go with their completed form ? I assume they will demand the proceeds of the policy to be sent to them. Thank you for your help.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: California Already Tried: Sent the beneficiary form back to the VA.
Thanks for your question and good evening.Are you the named beneficiary here.Is it going to be paid directly to you?
Yes, the policy named me as the beneficiary and the VA claim form indicated that they would send the funds directly to me. My father fought a long battle with Parkinson's and was struggling to manage his affairs before going into the nursing facility. I have not found a life insurance policy in his documents.
Thanks for the information.I would go on and report this as you state.It does not appear that the medical can recover life insurance that is directly payable to you.It will not hurt to report this but likely they will have no claim against life insurance payable to you.And if you used the money for travel for funeral they may not assert any claim to that either or waive their right to recovery.But report it all on the form and the attached letter.I think the life insurance will come to you and Medical will not seek the funds.The only time they can claim life insurance is when there is not a beneficiary or it is paid into an estate.That is not the case here and you are likely going to keep them.My sympathy here for the loss of your father.Reference.If you read down to what they cannot claim life insurance to named person in in here.http://www.bayareaelderlaw.com/main/estaterecovery.pdf
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Experience: Texas lawyer for 29 years in Estate law