Oregon Medicaid Estate Recovery
After someone who received Medicaid long-term care dies, Oregon can file a claim against their estate. This guide explains what is recovered, who is protected, and how to ask for relief.
Based on ORS 416.350 (Oregon's medical assistance estate recovery authority: the age 55 and permanently institutionalized triggers, recovery from the estate and from any recipient of property held at death including the estate of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse and surviving child deferrals, the crime-victim limit, the burden on the person who received the property, the qualified long-term care partnership exclusion, and the expanded estate definition at subsection (6)(a)); ORS 416.310 and ORS 416.320 (the estate of a deceased person is liable for aid received, and how a claim is presented); ORS 416.340 (securing payment of a claim, and the department's power to waive it); ORS 416.351 (the standby limitation to age 65 if federal law changes); ORS 411.708 and ORS 411.795 (recovery of Oregon Supplemental Income Program and General Assistance payments from certain estates); ORS 411.620 (setting aside transfers made without adequate consideration); ORS 411.694 and ORS 93.268 (the recorded request for notice of transfer or encumbrance, which subsection (7) says is not a lien, and the title company's duty to report a transfer); ORS 178.380(4)(b) (ABLE accounts are outside recovery); ORS 113.145(6) and ORS 114.525(1)(s) (the notices a personal representative or a simple estate affiant must send to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority); ORS 115.125 (where the state's claim sits in the order of payment); ORS 708A.430 and ORS 723.466 (the bank and credit union affidavit route when no probate is filed); OAR 461-135-0832 to 461-135-0847 (the operating rules: the estate definition, burial expenses, notices to the Estate Administration Unit, limits on estate claims, tribal exemptions, administering claims, title, undue hardship criteria and procedure, establishing ownership, and valuation); federal baseline 42 U.S.C. 1396p, whose subsection (b)(4)(B) is the optional expanded estate definition Oregon adopted.
What Oregon recovers
Oregon recovers what it paid for medical assistance, and it does not stop at the probate estate.
Covered services and programsThe full list of care and waiver programs the claim can include
Oregon recovers what it paid for medical assistance, and it does not stop at the probate estate. ORS 416.350(2) lets the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority recover medical assistance paid under ORS chapter 414 to or for an individual who was 55 or older when the assistance was received, or for a person of any age who was a permanently institutionalized inpatient in a nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities or another medical institution. The claim runs against the estate of the individual, or against any recipient of property or other assets held by the individual at the time of death, including the estate of the surviving spouse. ORS 416.350(6)(a) is the sentence that makes the reach wide: estate includes all real and personal property and other assets in which the deceased individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death, including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir or assign through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust or other similar arrangement. OAR 461-135-0832(12) writes the same reach into the operating rule for medical assistance provided on or after July 18, 1995 and names three more forms: tenancy by the entirety, a transfer on death deed, and an annuity purchased on or after April 1, 2001. It also follows property that the recipient conveyed to, that was later acquired by, or that is traceable to another person, including the recipient's spouse and any successor in interest to that spouse. Which benefits are recoverable turns on when the service was delivered, and the newest band is much narrower than the older ones. OAR 461-135-0835(4)(f) sets four bands. Medical assistance paid before October 1, 1993 to a recipient 65 or older is a claim against the probate estate. Assistance paid from October 1, 1993 through July 17, 1995 to a recipient 55 or older is also a probate-estate claim. Assistance paid from July 18, 1995 through September 30, 2013 to a recipient 55 or older is a claim against the wider estate and covers all medical assistance, not only long-term care. For assistance paid on or after October 1, 2013 the claim reaches only what was paid to a recipient 55 or older during the time the state was paying some or all of the cost of care in a nursing facility, in home and community-based care, or for in-home services through the State Plan Personal Care Services program. The Estate Administration Unit describes that cut the same way in its own brochure, listing an assisted living facility, a nursing facility, a residential care facility, an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, an adult foster home, in-home care including the State Plan Personal Care program, and other similar long-term care. Correctly made payments for Medicare cost sharing on or after January 1, 2010 are excluded from the claim, and OAR 461-135-0835(5) adds the state's monthly Medicare Part D contribution for a recipient 55 or older after December 31, 2013. Cash assistance is recovered too, but from a narrower pot. OAR 461-135-0835(2) and (3) make Oregon Supplemental Income Program payments and General Assistance payments a claim against the probate estate only, not against the wider estate that medical assistance reaches, and ORS 411.708 and ORS 411.795 are the statutes behind them. Incorrectly paid medical assistance, other than an administrative-error overpayment, is likewise a claim against the probate estate under OAR 461-135-0835(4)(c). Collection runs through the probate claim, not through a lien. The Estate Administration Unit presents and files the claim under OAR 461-135-0835(1), and ORS 115.125(1)(k) places the state's claim for the net amount of assistance ahead of ordinary unsecured creditors but behind support of the spouse and children, expenses of administration, the expenses of a plain and decent funeral, debts and taxes with federal preference, the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, state taxes, employee wages earned in the last 90 days, child support arrearages and the claim of the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Where no probate is opened, the unit can reach a small bank or credit union balance directly, and the route is narrow: ORS 708A.430(1) and ORS 723.466(1) apply only where the deposit is $25,000 or less, put the surviving spouse first with no waiting period, and let the Oregon Health Authority or the Department of Human Services demand payment only where there is no surviving spouse and only between 46 and 75 days after the death, on a declaration under penalty of perjury and where the agency has a preferred claim under ORS 411.708, 411.795 or 416.350. Children, parents, siblings and other heirs come after the agency in that order, and the institution may not pay any of them earlier than 46 days after death, or earlier than 76 days without prior authorization from both agencies. ORS 708A.430(7) and ORS 723.466(7) say a probate proceeding is not necessary for any of those people to withdraw the deposit. If property has to be sold, OAR 461-135-0838 lets the unit choose the most cost-effective method and requires that anything left after the claim goes to other creditors, then to heirs or devisees. The unit's brochure states that it usually charges 9 percent interest on an unpaid balance, which matches Oregon's general legal rate of interest under ORS 82.010(1). The estate carries a notice duty, not just the state. Under ORS 113.145(6) a personal representative must mail or deliver the required information and a copy of the death record to both agencies within 30 days of appointment. Under ORS 114.525(1)(s) a simple estate affidavit must state that a copy of the affidavit showing the filing date and a copy of the death record will go to the same agencies. OAR 461-135-0834 routes every one of those notices to the Estate Administration Unit at PO Box 14021, Salem OR 97309-5024, by fax at 503-378-3137, or by email to [email protected]. So neither probate nor the simple estate affidavit route keeps an estate out of the state's view.
Oregon uses an expanded estate definition and can reach certain assets that pass outside probate. Check the details and sources below, because the reach depends on the asset type.
Important: Oregon reaches well past probate for medical assistance, and four points decide most real cases. First, a revocable living trust is not a shield: ORS 416.350(6)(a) names a living trust, and OAR 461-135-0832(12)(g) and (22) confirm it, covering a revocable or irrevocable inter vivos trust funded with assets the recipient was legally entitled to. Second, a transfer on death deed is not a shield either: OAR 461-135-0832(12)(f) names it, OAR 461-135-0832(38) defines it by reference to ORS 93.949, and OAR 461-135-0845(6) presumes the transferor's interest was 100 percent. Joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, tenancy in common, plain right of survivorship, a life estate and an annuity purchased on or after April 1, 2001 are all named alongside them. Third, the reach is bounded rather than total. For assistance paid on or after October 1, 2013 the claim covers only what was paid while the state was funding long-term care, under OAR 461-135-0835(4)(f)(D). The recipient's share of jointly held property is what is measured, and OAR 461-135-0845(5) conclusively deems that share one-half where spouses held the property jointly. Oregon does not lien a living person's home; ORS 411.694(7) says the recorded request for notice of transfer or encumbrance is not a lien. Oregon Supplemental Income Program and General Assistance claims reach the probate estate only. And ORS 178.380(4)(b) puts an ABLE account outside recovery entirely. Fourth, timing matters more here than in a probate-only state: the claim is deferred while a surviving spouse lives and while there is a surviving child under 21 or a child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled, but deferral is not cancellation, and after a surviving spouse dies the claim can be made against that spouse's estate to the extent the spouse received the recipient's property through probate or by operation of law. Confirm your own situation with an Oregon elder-law attorney.
55 and older for medical assistance, plus a track with no age limit at all. ORS 416.350(2) sets both: medical assistance paid to or for an individual who was 55 or older when the assistance was received is recoverable, and so is medical assistance paid to or for a person of any age who was a permanently institutionalized inpatient in a nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities or another medical institution. OAR 461-135-0832(27) defines permanently institutionalized as having resided in such a facility for 180 days or more at the time of death, and OAR 461-135-0832(24) says a medical institution does not include home and community-based care, in-home services, an adult foster home, a residential care facility or an assisted living facility. The 55 figure matches the federal floor at 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(1)(B). Cash benefits carry no age condition at all: OAR 461-135-0835(2)(a) and (3)(a) make Oregon Supplemental Income Program and General Assistance payments a claim against the probate estate of any deceased recipient, with no age stated, under ORS 411.708 and ORS 411.795. So an Oregon estate can face a claim for cash assistance paid long before the person turned 55, though only against the probate estate. ORS 416.351 is a standby provision, not current law: it would move the medical assistance floor from 55 to 65 only if 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(1)(B) as in effect on January 1, 1995 were repealed without replacement or declared unconstitutional, and only after the Director of the Oregon Health Authority received a written opinion from the Attorney General.
Who is protected from recovery
Surviving spouse: ORS 416.350(2) bars the state from adjusting or recovering a correctly paid medical assistance claim until after the death of the surviving spouse, and OAR 461-135-0835(4)(d) says the same. This defers recovery rather than cancelling it, and after the spouse dies the claim reaches the spouse's estate only to the extent the spouse received property or other assets from the recipient through probate or by operation of law.
Surviving child under 21: ORS 416.350(2) blocks recovery while the recipient has a surviving child under 21, and OAR 461-135-0832(5) requires that the child be the recipient's natural or adopted son or daughter who is under 21 throughout the time the state seeks to enforce the claim.
Surviving child who is permanently and totally disabled, at any age: ORS 416.350(2) and OAR 461-135-0832(6), which requires a natural or adopted son or daughter who meets SSI disability criteria throughout the enforcement period and who gives the state evidence of the disability within two years after it first asserts the claim.
Surviving child who is blind or visually impaired, at any age: ORS 416.350(2) and OAR 461-135-0832(7), which accepts vision of 20/200 or less in the better eye with a corrective lens, a visual field limited to 20 degrees or less, or any other SSI blindness criterion, substantiated within two years after the state first asserts its claim
Registered domestic partner, for cash assistance only: OAR 461-135-0835(2)(b) and (3)(b) defer an Oregon Supplemental Income Program or General Assistance claim until the death of a registered domestic partner as well as a spouse. The medical assistance rule at OAR 461-135-0835(4)(d) says spouse, and OAR 461-135-0845(1) extends spouse to a registered domestic partner only for programs that are not federally funded. ODHS itself tells readers to ask the Estate Administration Unit or a lawyer how a domestic partnership affects recovery.
Sibling with an equity interest in the home: Oregon's estate recovery law states no such exemption. ORS chapters 416 and 411 and every rule in OAR 461-135-0832 to 461-135-0847 were read in full on 2026-08-25 and none of them mentions a sibling or an equity interest. The federal protection at 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(2)(B)(i) restricts enforcement of a lien on the home, and Oregon does not place a Medicaid lien on a living recipient's home, so there is no Oregon lien for it to restrict.
Caregiver child who lived in and maintained the home: Oregon's estate recovery law states no such exemption either. The same full read found no reference to a son or daughter who provided care, to a two-year residence, or to a caregiver anywhere in ORS chapters 416 and 411 or in the estate administration rules. The federal protection at 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(2)(B)(ii) likewise constrains enforcement of a lien on the home rather than the probate claim Oregon actually uses.
Undue hardship waiver for an heir who would be pushed onto public assistance: OAR 461-135-0841(1) lets the state waive enforcement of any estate recovery claim that would work an undue hardship on the beneficiaries, heirs or family members claiming the assets, and (2)(a) names as a criterion whether enforcement would make the applicant eligible for assistance.
Undue hardship waiver for an heir who would be made homeless: OAR 461-135-0841(2)(b) names as a criterion whether enforcement would leave an applicant who would otherwise be eligible for assistance homeless. No waiver is granted where the hardship was created by estate planning designed to avoid recovery, or where a waiver would not remedy it.
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Property that may be exempt
- Money in an Oregon ABLE account. ORS 178.380(4)(b) says that, except as required by federal law, the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority may not seek payment under ORS 416.350 from amounts in an ABLE account or from amounts transferred out of one to the beneficiary's estate or to another eligible individual's ABLE account. This is a rare flat statutory carve-out from Oregon's recovery statute.
- Assistance the person needed because of a crime committed against them. ORS 416.350(3) says the section does not authorize recovery from the estate or surviving spouse of a recipient to the extent that the need for aid resulted from a crime committed against the recipient, and ORS 416.340(2) goes further, declaring that such a claim defeats the purpose of the public assistance and medical assistance laws. ORS 416.310(3) and ORS 411.795(3) carry the same rule for other aid.
- Resources protected by a qualified long-term care partnership policy. ORS 416.350(5) excludes from recovery the value of benefits paid under a qualified long term care insurance policy or certificate as defined in ORS 743.652 that were disregarded when eligibility was determined, and OAR 461-135-0835(4)(a) sets the matching estate-resource disregard. OAR 461-135-0835(4)(b) removes the disregard if the recipient or the recipient's spouse transferred that value for less than fair market value before death, or spent it on things of value to either of them while living.
- Correctly made payments for Medicare cost sharing on or after January 1, 2010, meaning Medicare premiums, coinsurance, copayments and deductibles. OAR 461-135-0835(4)(f)(C) and (D) exclude them from the claim, and the Estate Administration Unit's brochure adds that benefits received under the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program alone on or after January 1, 2010 are not included either.
- Certain Native American and Alaska Native property. OAR 461-135-0837(1) exempts interests in and income from tribal land and other resources held in trust status, Indian Claims Commission and Court of Federal Claims judgment funds, ownership interests in trust or non-trust property and improvements located on or near a reservation or within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation, traceable income left as a remainder from those sources, ownership interests in rents, leases, royalties or usage rights tied to federally protected natural-resource rights, items of unique religious, spiritual, traditional or cultural significance, and rights that support subsistence or a traditional life style. OAR 461-135-0837(2) limits the non-trust protection to property passing to relatives, to a tribe or tribal organization, or to one or more Indians.
- Property in which the decedent held only bare legal title as a trustee, with no beneficial, equitable, reversionary or other ownership interest. OAR 461-135-0843(1) tells the department not to treat that property as property in which the decedent had an interest or held legal title.
- Property already in the hands of a bona fide purchaser for value. OAR 461-135-0832(4) defines that purchaser as one who paid consideration equal to fair market value, and OAR 461-135-0832(32)(b) then excludes a subsequent transferee who is a bona fide purchaser for value from the recipients of property the state can pursue.
- The share of jointly held property that was never the recipient's. OAR 461-135-0845(3) presumes each co-owner's fractional share to be the share shown in the ownership documents, and lets that presumption be rebutted with convincing evidence under the consideration furnished test, which traces ownership to who actually paid. OAR 461-135-0845(5) is stronger for married couples: property held jointly by spouses is conclusively deemed one-half the recipient's unless the ownership documents lawfully set a different share.
- Liens and other encumbrances against the property. OAR 461-135-0845(7), (10) and (11) subtract the sum of proven liens and encumbrances from the value of real property, tangible personal property and intangible personal property to reach the net value the claim is measured against, and OAR 461-135-0845(14) deducts them again when calculating what is recoverable from a person other than the recipient.
- Up to $6,000 of estate assets for a plain and decent funeral and disposition of the remains, for a person dying on or after January 1, 2025. OAR 461-135-0833(1) and (2) set the figure and reduce it by any prearranged funeral trust, funds set aside for burial, life insurance identified to pay funeral expenses, or burial insurance. Transporting the remains outside Oregon and donations to charities in the decedent's name do not count toward it. Note that the ODHS estate recovery web page still prints the superseded $3,500 figure; the adopted rule governs.
- Everything Oregon pays ahead of the state's own claim. ORS 115.125(1)(a) through (j) put support of the spouse and children, expenses of administration, the expenses of a plain and decent funeral, debts and taxes with federal preference, the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, state taxes, wages earned by employees in the 90 days before death, child support arrearages and the claim of the Department of Veterans' Affairs ahead of the estate recovery claim at (k).
- Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary. The Estate Administration Unit's brochure states that it normally will not claim against life insurance where the person gave the insurer written instructions about who receives the proceeds, and that proceeds paid to the estate itself are subject to a claim. This is the agency's stated practice rather than a codified exemption, so proceeds payable to the estate remain reachable.
- Personal property and effects of no significant monetary value. The Estate Administration Unit's brochure states that unless such items have significant monetary value it will generally not enforce its claim against them. This is stated agency practice, not a rule.
- General assistance provided under ORS 411.752. ORS 411.795(4) says that section does not create a claim against the property or interests of a recipient of that assistance, and OAR 461-135-0835(3)(a) excludes correctly paid benefits under Oregon Laws 2016, chapter 93, section 1 from July 1, 2016, though an overpayment of them is still claimed.
Undue-hardship waiver
Oregon can waive recovery when it would cause an undue hardship for the heirs. Contact Estate Administration Unit, Office of Payment Accuracy and Recovery, Oregon Department of Human Services at 1-800-826-5675 to request the waiver and confirm deadlines.
Hardship waiver informationFrequently asked questions
Who is protected from Medicaid estate recovery in Oregon?
What does Oregon Medicaid recover after death?
Can I apply for an undue-hardship waiver in Oregon?
Who handles Medicaid estate recovery in Oregon?
Agency and statute sourcesOfficial references used for this page
- ORS 416.350, Oregon's medical assistance estate recovery authority and the source of the expanded classification in this file. Subsection (1) covers incorrectly paid assistance. Subsection (2) is the operative reach: except as prohibited by ORS 178.380, medical assistance under ORS chapter 414 paid to or for an individual who was 55 or older when the assistance was received, or for a person of any age who was a permanently institutionalized inpatient in a nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities or other medical institution, may be recovered from the estate of the individual or from any recipient of property or other assets held by the individual at the time of death including the estate of the surviving spouse, with the claim deferred until after the death of the surviving spouse and until there is no surviving child under 21 or who is blind or permanently and totally disabled, and with transfers made without adequate consideration voidable under ORS 411.620(2). Subsection (3) is the crime-victim limit. Subsection (4) puts the burden of establishing the extent and value of the recipient's interest on the person who received the property. Subsection (5) excludes benefits paid under a qualified long term care insurance policy as defined in ORS 743.652 that were disregarded at eligibility. Subsection (6)(a) is the expanded estate definition: estate includes all real and personal property and other assets in which the deceased individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir or assign through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust or other similar arrangement. Subsection (6)(b) adds the state's Medicare Part D contribution. Amendment line read at the section: [Formerly 414.105; 2011 c.720 s.154; 2013 c.688 s.87; 2017 c.367 s.5].
- ORS 416.310, the general rule that a deceased person's estate is liable for aid received. Subsection (1) makes the estate of every deceased person who received aid from the state or a county, or whose burial expenses were paid by the state or a county, liable for the actual cost of that aid or burial, and gives the state or county a just and valid claim against the estate, except as otherwise provided by ORS 411.708 and except for aid under ORS 412.006, 444.120 or 444.220. Subsection (3) repeats the crime-victim limit. Cited here for the underlying claim, not for the medical assistance reach, which is ORS 416.350. Amendment line read at the section: [Formerly 411.480; 1985 c.522 s.5; 1993 c.249 s.6; 2005 c.381 s.25].
- ORS 416.340, the collection and waiver powers behind Oregon's estate claims. Subsection (1)(a) lets the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority secure payment of a claim in whole or in part by accepting assignments, conveyances, notes, mortgages and other transfers of property or interests, which is the statutory basis for the mortgage or trust deed option in the hardship rule. Subsection (1)(b) lets either agency waive a claim to the extent it finds enforcement would tend to defeat the purpose of the public assistance or medical assistance laws, and this is the statute the undue hardship waiver rules implement. Subsection (2) declares that a claim for aid needed because of a crime committed against the recipient does defeat that purpose. Amendment line read at the section: [1963 c.114 s.2; 1985 c.522 s.6; 2011 c.720 s.153; 2013 c.688 s.86].
- ORS 416.351, a standby provision that is not current law and is recorded here so nobody reads it as one. Subsection (1) says that if 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(1)(B) as in effect on January 1, 1995 is repealed without replacement or declared unconstitutional, the Director of the Oregon Health Authority shall limit recovery of medical assistance from an individual's estate, or from a recipient of property held at death including a surviving spouse, to assistance paid on or after the individual turned 65. Subsection (2) conditions that on the director first receiving a written opinion from the Attorney General that the limitation would not violate federal law. Neither trigger has occurred, so Oregon's floor remains 55. Amendment line read at the section: [Formerly 414.106].
- ORS 411.708, the recovery statute for Oregon Supplemental Income Program cash assistance. Subsection (1) makes the amount of any assistance paid under ORS 411.706 a claim against the property or interest in property belonging to and part of the estate of any deceased recipient, charges the estate of the surviving spouse where the deceased recipient has no estate, and bars adjustment or recovery of correctly paid assistance except after the death of the surviving spouse and only when there is no surviving child who is under 21 or who is blind or has a disability. Cited here because the operating rule at OAR 461-135-0835(2) applies that claim to the PROBATE estate only, which is narrower than the medical assistance reach under ORS 416.350.
- ORS 411.795, the recovery statute for General Assistance. Subsection (1) makes the amount of any general assistance paid under ORS chapter 411 a claim against the property or any interest in it belonging to and part of the estate of a deceased recipient, charges the estate of the surviving spouse where there is no estate or it is insufficient, and bars adjustment or recovery of correctly paid general assistance except after the death of the individual and the surviving spouse, and only when there is no surviving child under 21 or who is blind or permanently and totally disabled. Subsection (3) is the crime-victim limit. Subsection (4) is used here as an exemption: this section does not create a claim against the property or interests of a recipient of general assistance provided under ORS 411.752. Amendment line read at the section: [1971 c.422 s.1; 1975 c.386 s.1; 1985 c.522 s.1; 1995 c.664 s.91; 2005 c.754 s.2; 2013 c.688 s.60; 2016 c.93 s.7].
- ORS 411.620, the transfer-avoidance statute that ORS 416.350(2) points at. Subsection (2) lets the Department of Human Services, the Oregon Health Authority, a conservator for the recipient or the personal representative of a deceased recipient's estate sue to set aside a transfer, gift or other disposition of money or property made in violation of ORS 411.630, 411.708 or 416.350, and lets the agencies recover out of that money or property the amount or value of the assistance obtained, with interest, costs and disbursements, except as against bona fide purchasers for value. Subsection (1) covers civil suits against a person who obtained assistance in violation of ORS 411.630 or 411.640. Amendment line read at the section: [Amended by 1963 c.499 s.1; 1971 c.334 s.2; 1973 c.661 s.1; 1983 c.638 s.1; 2001 c.900 s.220; 2005 c.381 s.24; 2009 c.595 s.262; 2011 c.720 s.115; 2013 c.688 s.50].
- ORS 411.694, the recorded request for notice of transfer or encumbrance, and the reason this file says Oregon does not lien a living recipient's home. Subsection (1) lets the Department of Human Services or the Oregon Health Authority present a request for notice of transfer or encumbrance to the county clerk for recording in the county deed and mortgage records where a recipient of public assistance or medical assistance holds record title to real property or is a purchaser under a land sale contract. Subsection (3) requires a termination to be filed when monitoring is no longer necessary. Subsection (4) directs the department to adopt the forms by rule. Subsection (7) is the point relied on here: the request for notice of transfer or encumbrance does not affect title to real property and is not a lien on, encumbrance of or other interest in the real property. Amendment line read at the section: [2003 c.638 s.2; 2011 c.720 s.123; 2013 c.688 s.58].
- ORS 93.268, the title company's side of the request for notice. Subsection (2) requires a title insurance company or agent that finds a request for notice of transfer or encumbrance recorded under ORS 411.694 during a title search to provide the filing agency with a notice of transfer or encumbrance within 30 days of a transfer or encumbrance that results in a certificate of title insurance, and to disclose the request in any preliminary report or commitment. Subsection (3) ends that duty once a termination has been recorded. Cited here for what families actually encounter on a title report. Amendment line read at the section: [2003 c.638 s.3; 2011 c.720 s.54], with a Preface note that the section was enacted but not added to ORS chapter 93 by legislative action.
- ORS 178.380, the Oregon ABLE program statute, and the flat carve-out this file records as an exempt asset. Subsection (4)(a) lets amounts in an ABLE account be transferred on the designated beneficiary's death to the beneficiary's estate or to another eligible individual's ABLE account. Subsection (4)(b) is the exemption: except as required by federal law, the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority may not seek payment under ORS 416.350 or section 529A(f) of the Internal Revenue Code from amounts in an ABLE account or from amounts transferred from one under paragraph (a). Subsection (3) is the separate eligibility disregard. This is also the section that ORS 416.350(2) names in its opening words, "Except as prohibited by ORS 178.380". Amendment line read at the section: [2015 c.843 s.2; 2016 c.33 s.1b; 2017 c.367 s.1; 2019 c.511 s.1; 2023 c.156 s.1].
- ORS 113.145, the probate notice duty that puts an Oregon estate on the state's radar. Subsection (1) lists the information a personal representative must deliver or mail on appointment. Subsection (6) is the fact used here: within 30 days after appointment the personal representative must mail or deliver that information and a copy of the decedent's death record to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority, or as otherwise provided by rule adopted by the department and the authority, which is what OAR 461-135-0834 does by routing it to the Estate Administration Unit. Amendment line read at the section: [1969 c.591 s.94; 1973 c.506 s.25; 1991 c.704 s.3; 2001 c.620 s.1; 2003 c.14 s.44; 2003 c.395 s.26; 2005 c.741 s.5; 2007 c.284 s.10; 2009 c.595 s.78; 2011 c.720 s.58; 2013 c.366 s.59; 2017 c.169 s.50].
- ORS 114.525, the contents of an Oregon simple estate affidavit, cited here only for the notice duty at subsection (1)(s): the affidavit must state that a copy of the affidavit showing the date of filing and a copy of the death record will be mailed or delivered to the Department of Human Services or to the Oregon Health Authority, as prescribed by rule by the department or authority. That is why the simple estate affidavit route, which 2023 c.17 renamed from the small estate affidavit, does not keep an estate out of the state's view. Amendment line read at the section: [1973 c.710 s.6; ... 2017 c.169 s.53; 2019 c.165 s.7; 2023 c.17 s.3a].
- ORS 115.125, the order in which an Oregon estate pays when assets fall short, and the reason the state's claim outranks ordinary creditors. Subsection (1) ranks, in order: support of spouse and children, expenses of administration, expenses of a plain and decent funeral, debts and taxes with federal preference, reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, state taxes, wages owed to employees for labor performed in the 90 days before death, child support arrearages, the claim of the Department of Veterans' Affairs under ORS 406.100, the agencies' claim for the state's Medicare Part D contribution, then at (k) the claim of the Department of Human Services or the Oregon Health Authority for the net amount of assistance properly or improperly paid to or for the decedent, then care and maintenance claims at a state institution, then at (n) all other claims. Subsection (2) prorates within a class. Amendment line read at the section: [1969 c.591 s.152; ... 2016 c.42 s.23; 2017 c.169 s.30].
- ORS 82.010, Oregon's legal rate of interest, recorded here only to corroborate the 9 percent figure the Estate Administration Unit states in its brochure. Subsection (1) sets the rate at nine percent per annum where the parties have not agreed otherwise, payable on all moneys after they become due, on money received to the use of another and retained beyond a reasonable time, and on money due where a contract to pay interest names no rate. Subsection (2) sets the same nine percent on money judgments. No section of ORS chapter 416 or 411 and no rule in OAR 461-135-0832 to 461-135-0847 names an interest rate for an estate recovery claim, so this file attributes the 9 percent to the agency and notes that it matches the general legal rate rather than asserting that this section is the authority for it. Amendment line read at the section: [Amended by 1959 c.365 s.a; 1973 c.198 s.1; ... 1987 c.873 s.26; 2003 c.774 s.1].
- ORS 708A.430, the bank affidavit route the Estate Administration Unit uses when no probate is opened. Subsection (1) applies only where the deceased depositor's deposit is $25,000 or less, and sets the order of payment: the surviving spouse on demand at any time; then the Oregon Health Authority or the Department of Human Services, where there is no surviving spouse and the agency has a preferred claim under ORS 411.708, 411.795 or 416.350, on a demand made not less than 46 days and no more than 75 days after death; then surviving children 18 or older, then a surviving parent, then surviving brothers and sisters 18 or older, then any other surviving heir. Subsection (2) bars payment to anyone from (1)(c) through (f) earlier than 46 days after death, and earlier than 76 days without prior authorization from both agencies. Subsection (3) sets what the affidavit or declaration must contain, including a promise to pay last sickness, funeral expenses and just debts in the ORS 115.125 order of priority. Subsection (4) requires the institution to accept an agency declaration under penalty of perjury submitted in the 46 to 75 day window. Subsection (5) routes an intestate deposit with no known heirs to an estate administrator of the State Treasurer. Subsection (7) says a probate proceeding is not necessary to establish the right to withdraw. Amendment line read at the section: [1997 c.631 s.167; ... 2021 c.424 s.24; 2023 c.84 s.1; 2025 c.65 s.2]; 2025 c.65 (HB 3370) was approved May 12, 2025 with an effective date of January 1, 2026, which has elapsed, and it changed the declaration window from 76 to 75 days rather than the $25,000 figure.
- ORS 723.466, the credit union twin of ORS 708A.430. Subsection (1) applies where the deposit to the credit of the deceased member is $25,000 or less and sets the same order: surviving spouse on demand at any time; then the Oregon Health Authority or the Department of Human Services where there is no surviving spouse and a preferred claim arises under ORS 411.708, 411.795 or 416.350, on demand no less than 46 days and no more than 75 days after death; then surviving children 18 or older, surviving parents, surviving brothers and sisters 18 or older, then any other surviving heir. Subsection (2) sets the same 46 day floor and 76 day authorization rule. Subsection (4) requires the credit union to accept an agency declaration under penalty of perjury in the 46 to 75 day window. Subsection (7) says a probate proceeding is not necessary to withdraw. Amendment line read at the section: [1999 c.185 s.21; ... 2021 c.424 s.25; 2023 c.84 s.2; 2025 c.65 s.1].
- OAR 461-135-0832, the definitions for Oregon's estate administration rules and the single most important entry in this file. Subsection (12) is the operating estate definition: with respect to collection of payments made for medical assistance provided on or after July 18, 1995, estate means all real property, personal property or other assets, wherever located, in which a recipient had any legal title or ownership or beneficial interest at the time of death, including property conveyed by the recipient to, subsequently acquired by, or traceable to a person, including the recipient's spouse and any successor-in-interest to the recipient's spouse, through tenancy by the entirety, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, right of survivorship, life estate, transfer on death deed, living trust, an annuity purchased on or after April 1, 2001, or other similar arrangement. The rule also defines child under age 21 (5), child with a disability (6), child with a visual impairment (7), the consideration furnished test (8), convincing evidence (9), living trust (22), medical institution (24), Medicare cost sharing (25), permanently institutionalized as 180 days or more (27), probate estate (30), recipient of property (32), registered domestic partner (33), time of death (37), transfer on death deed by reference to ORS 93.949 (38) and value (39). Rule history read at the section: SSP 21-2021 minor correction filed 02/24/2021; SSP 45-2020 amend filed 12/22/2020, operative 01/01/2021; and earlier orders back to AFS 29-1996.
- OAR 461-135-0833, the burial expense allowance, and the one Oregon figure where the agency web page and the adopted rule disagree. Subsection (1) states that the Department of Human Services has determined a plain and decent funeral and disposition of the remains can be arranged for an average cost of $6,000, including all professional services and merchandise. Subsection (2) applies to individuals dying on or after January 1, 2025 where the department is a claimant and the remaining assets would not satisfy its claim in full, and allows not more than $6,000 in estate assets to be spent on funeral expenses and disposition of the remains, less any prearranged funeral trust, funds set aside for burial, life insurance policies specifically identified to pay funeral expenses, or burial insurance. Subsection (3) requires a funeral home and anyone receiving a refund of prepaid funeral funds after a Medicaid client's death to notify the Estate Administration Unit at PO Box 14021, Salem, OR 97309-5024 in writing within 30 days, and makes the refund an estate asset subject to creditor claims. Subsection (4) excludes transportation of the remains beyond Oregon and donations to charities in the decedent's name. Rule history read at the section: SSP 61-2024, amend filed 12/30/2024, operative 01/01/2025, renumbered from 461-006-0452 by SSP 8-2008 and back to AFS 43-1983.
- OAR 461-135-0834, where the statutory notices actually go. Subsection (1) routes any notice required by ORS 93.268, 113.038, 113.145, 114.525, 115.003, 116.093 or 130.370 to the Estate Administration Unit, Office of Payment Accuracy and Recovery, Oregon Department of Human Services. Subsection (2) does the same for information required by ORS 114.456 and adds a copy of the decedent's long form death record with cause of death. Subsection (3) routes a notice of disallowance under ORS 114.540, 115.135 or 130.400 to the same unit. Subsection (4) requires the trustee of a trust established under 42 U.S.C. 1396p(d)(4) to give notice of termination of the trust or of an account in a master trust. Subsection (5) is the address of record used in this file: mailing address Estate Administration Unit, PO Box 14021, Salem OR 97309-5024; facsimile (503)-378-3137; email [email protected]. Rule history read at the section: SSP 21-2023, amend filed 06/22/2023, operative 07/01/2023, and earlier orders back to AFS 5-2002.
- OAR 461-135-0835, the rule that decides which benefits are recoverable and from which estate. Subsection (1) designates the Estate Administration Unit to administer estate recovery for the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Human Services and to present and file claims. Subsection (2) covers the Oregon Supplemental Income Program and subsection (3) covers General Assistance, both as claims against the PROBATE estate, both deferred until the death of a spouse or registered domestic partner and until there is no child under age 21, child with a disability or child with a visual impairment. Subsection (4) covers medical assistance: (a) and (b) are the qualified partnership policy resource disregard and the transfer exception to it, (c) makes incorrectly paid benefits other than an administrative error overpayment a claim against the probate estate, (d) defers the claim until the surviving spouse's death and then limits it to what the spouse received from the recipient through probate or by operation of law, (e) defers it while a protected child survives, and (f) sets the four date bands, of which (f)(D) is the current one: benefits paid on or after October 1, 2013 to a recipient 55 or older during the time the department was paying any of the cost of care in a nursing facility, home and community-based care, or in-home services through State Plan Personal Care Services, with Medicare cost sharing paid on or after January 1, 2010 excluded. Subsection (5) adds the Medicare Part D contribution after December 31, 2013 for a recipient 55 or older. Subsection (6) is the payback requirement for trusts under OAR 461-145-0540(9). Subsections (7) and (8) cover disqualifying transfers and undisclosed assets. Rule history read at the section: SSP 55-2024, amend filed 09/30/2024, operative 10/01/2024; SSP 41-2024, amend filed 06/20/2024, operative 07/01/2024; and earlier orders back to AFS 13-1991.
- OAR 461-135-0837, the exemptions that apply when the recipient was a Native American Indian or Alaska Native Village tribal member. Subsection (1) exempts income and resources specifically exempt by law, including interests in and income from tribal land and other resources held in trust status and judgment funds from the Indian Claims Commission and the United States Court of Federal Claims; ownership interests in trust or non-trust property and improvements located on a reservation, near a reservation as designated and approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation; traceable income left as a remainder from those sources; traceable ownership interests in rents, leases, royalties or usage rights tied to federally protected natural-resource rights; items of unique religious, spiritual, traditional or cultural significance; and rights that support subsistence or a traditional life style. Subsection (2) limits the non-trust protection to property passing from an Indian to relatives by blood, adoption or marriage protected as family members by the tribe, to a tribe or tribal organization, or to one or more Indians. Subsection (3) confirms that anything outside those categories is recoverable. Rule history read at the section: AFS 13-2002, filed and certified effective 10-1-02.
- OAR 461-135-0838, how the Estate Administration Unit runs a claim. Subsection (1) makes the unit responsible for recovering the claim from the estate. Subsection (2) lets it act to identify or preserve assets. Subsection (3) lets it choose the most cost-effective way to dispose of real and personal property, through licensed real estate brokers, public auctions, competitive bidding or other methods. Subsection (4) credits the proceeds to the claim and directs any excess first to other claims against the estate, then to heirs or devisees, with anything remaining reverting to the Division of State Lands. Rule history read at the section: AFS 13-1991, filed and certified effective 7-1-91.
- OAR 461-135-0841, the undue hardship waiver criteria, and the URL this file records as the hardship waiver reference because no public request form exists. Subsection (1) lets the department waive enforcement of any estate recovery claim if it finds enforcement would result in an undue hardship to the beneficiaries, heirs or family members of the deceased client claiming entitlement to receive the assets. Subsection (2) names two criteria: whether enforcement would cause the waiver applicant to become eligible for assistance, and whether it would cause an applicant who would otherwise be eligible for assistance to become homeless. Subsection (3) describes the relief, including forgiveness of all or part of the claim, any other relief the department deems fit, or taking a mortgage or trust deed in lieu of enforcement. Subsection (4) refuses a waiver where the hardship was created by estate planning that divested, transferred or encumbered assets to avoid estate recovery. Subsection (5) refuses one where a waiver would not remedy the hardship. Rule history read at the section: SSP 37-2013, filed 12-31-13, certified effective 1-1-14, and earlier orders back to AFS 41-1995.
- OAR 461-135-0844, the undue hardship waiver procedure and its deadlines. Subsection (1) requires written notice of the hardship waiver rules to the personal representative or, if that person is unknown, filed with the claim in the probate court, and to any beneficiary, heir or family member asserting a superior right or who held an asset jointly with the deceased. Subsection (2) gives an applicant 45 days from the date the notice was sent to submit a written request, with late requests allowed at the department's discretion for good cause. Subsection (3) lists the six things the request must contain. Subsection (4) gives an applicant 30 days to supply additional information the department asks for. Subsection (5) requires a written decision within 90 days of receipt. Subsections (6) through (8) set contested case hearing rights before the Office of Administrative Hearings and define the issue on review. Subsection (9) says a timely waiver or hearing request does not stop the department from pursuing the claim, but the department must return funds collected if the waiver should have been granted. Rule history read at the section: SSP 14-2006, filed 9-29-06, certified effective 10-1-06; AFS 41-1995.
- OAR 461-135-0843, how ownership is proved and the bare-legal-title carve-out this file records as an exempt asset. Subsection (1) presumes legal title or interest to be what the ownership documents say, allows that presumption to be rebutted by convincing evidence, and then directs that the department shall not consider property or assets in which the decedent held only bare legal title in the capacity as a trustee, with no beneficial, equitable, reversionary or other ownership interest, as property in which the decedent had an interest or held legal title. Subsection (2) applies the law of the jurisdiction where the property sits, in effect at the time of death, to the form of interest created. Rule history read at the section: AFS 29-1996, filed and certified effective 8-28-96.
- OAR 461-135-0845, how Oregon values what it reaches. Subsection (2) values a life estate or other life-measured interest by the department's life estate valuation table as of the time of death, whatever the actual life span. Subsection (3) presumes a co-owner's fractional share to be the share shown in the ownership documents, or an equal share where none is stated, rebuttable by the consideration furnished test using convincing evidence. Subsection (4) presumes a recipient's interest in a multi-party bank or credit union account to be 100 percent, valued at the time of death. Subsection (5) conclusively deems a person's interest in property held jointly by spouses to be one-half unless the ownership documents lawfully set a different share, and expressly excludes the consideration furnished test. Subsection (6) presumes a transferor's interest in property passing by transfer on death deed or a payable on death account to be 100 percent. Subsections (7) through (11) set the valuation methods for real property, securities, tangible and intangible personal property and subtract proven liens and encumbrances to reach net value. Subsection (12) defers to the probate code for property in a probate estate. Subsection (13) fixes the valuation date for a claim deferred until a spouse's death. Subsection (14) sets the three-step calculation for a claim against a person other than the recipient. Rule history read at the section: SSP 45-2020, amend filed 12/22/2020, operative 01/01/2021; SSP 23-2019, amend filed 10/21/2019, operative 10/22/2019; and earlier orders back to AFS 29-1996.
- Oregon Department of Human Services, Estate Recovery. The agency's public estate recovery page, written as a long FAQ. Used here for the agency-level facts it states in its own words: that about 60 percent of what is recovered goes back to the state and the rest to the federal government; that families should notify the caseworker or the unit and expect a letter within 60 to 90 days; that banks and medical facilities are asked to send a decedent's remaining funds to the state except when a spouse is still alive; that Medicaid did NOT place a lien on the decedent's real property and that what appears on title is a request for notice, which is not a lien; that the state will not require a home to be sold and can collect only the lesser of the claim amount with interest or the value of the home; that a claim is usually not made until after a surviving spouse dies and is not sought where a natural or legally adopted child under 21, or of any age who is blind or disabled under Social Security Administration criteria, survives; and that a surviving spouse may keep living in the home. The page cites ORS 114.505 to 560, ORS 113.035, ORS 114.255 to 435, ORS 115.125, and ORS 708A.430 and 723.466 for the bank affidavit route. CAUTION: this page still states the superseded $3,500 burial allowance while citing OAR 461-135-0833, which now sets $6,000. Where the page and the codified rule disagree, the rule governs.
- Oregon Department of Human Services, Estate Recovery Program brochure, form MSC 9093 (09/2024), published by the Estate Administration Unit and linked from the agency's estate recovery page. This is the source of the unit's contact details used in this file: PO Box 14021, Salem, OR 97309-5024, 503-378-2884, 1-800-826-5675, TTY 1-800-735-2900 or 711, fax 503-378-3137, [email protected]. It is also the source of several agency-stated practices recorded here rather than asserted as law: that the unit usually charges 9 percent interest on an unpaid balance; that it normally will not claim against life insurance where the person gave the insurer written instructions about who receives the proceeds, though proceeds paid to the estate are subject to a claim; that it will generally not enforce its claim against personal property and effects unless they have significant monetary value; and that recovery of benefits the person was not entitled to is available regardless of a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a child with a disability or visual impairment. The brochure restates the October 1, 2013 change, listing the long-term care settings that trigger a claim, and confirms that Qualified Medicare Beneficiary only benefits on or after January 1, 2010 are not included. Its footnote tells readers to ask the unit or a lawyer how a domestic partnership affects recovery.
- 42 U.S.C. 1396p, the federal Medicaid estate recovery baseline that Oregon's program sits on. Subsection (b)(1)(B) sets the age 55 rule and the covered service list, and is the provision ORS 416.351 names as the trigger for its standby limitation. Subsection (b)(2)(A) is the surviving spouse and surviving child bar that ORS 416.350(2) tracks. Subsection (b)(2)(B)(i) and (ii) are the sibling-with-equity and caregiver-child protections, which by their terms restrict enforcement of a LIEN on the home, not a probate claim, which is why this file records them as inapplicable to Oregon rather than as Oregon exemptions. Subsection (b)(3) is the undue hardship waiver. Subsection (b)(4)(A) is the mandatory probate-estate definition and (b)(4)(B) is the OPTIONAL wider definition covering assets conveyed through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust or other arrangement, which Oregon adopted at ORS 416.350(6)(a).
Information current as of August 25, 2026
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