ND Dept. of Human Services v. Caroline
---------------------------
North Dakota Department
of Human Services, Claimant and Appellant
v.
Vernon Caroline, as Personal
Representative of the Estate
of Verna Wirtz, deceased, Respondent and Appellee
Judge Robert W. Holte
| Appellant: | Blaine L. Nordwall , Spec. Asst. Atty. Gen. | |
| Appellee: | McGee, Hankla, Backes & Dobrovolny |
To what extent do North Dakota state law and federal law allow recovery of medical assistance benefits from the estate of the deceased recipient's surviving spouse?
Appellee's Statement of the Issues:
1. Did the trial court properly deny the North Dakota Department of Human Service's claim against the estate of a surviving spouse of a medical assistance recipient where no assets in the surviving spouse's estate were conveyed by joint tenancy, tenancy-in-common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement?
2. Did the trial court property deny the North Dakota Department of Human Services' claim against the estate of a surviving spouse of a medial assistance recipient where the recipient had no legal title or interest in the surviving spouse's estate assets at the time of the recipient's death?
3. Did the trial court properly deny the North Dakota Department of Human Services' claim against the estate of a surviving spouse of a medical assistance recipient where the Department failed to meet its evidentiary burden of proof with respect to its obligation to trace the assets of a medical assistance recipient into the estate of the recipient's surviving spouse?
4. Does the North Dakota Department of Human Services' claim against the estate of a surviving spouse of a medial assistance recipient extend to all assets of the surviving spouse's estate, or only those in which the recipient had legal title or interest at the time of the recipient's death, as opposed to an equitable interest, and which were conveyed by joint tenancy, tenancy-in-common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement; and if also to equitable interests, to what extent?
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