RE: State of Maine Recovery Act for Medicaid

I have been told by the State of Maine, that they allow the administrator of the estate to receive a 'reasonable' fee for estate administration. I am the administrator.

My mother received medical benefits from the State, and under their Recovery Act, the family home will be sold to reimburse them for those benefits. I am told that once the house is sold, certain items are deducted from the proceeds of the sale BEFORE the state either a) takes their full share or b) accepts what is left as payment in full. One of those items is an administration fee.

Can someone provide me info as to how to determine what is 'reasonable'? I have spent many hours clearing and cleaning the house of it's contents, preparing the house for a Maine winter, as well as filing probate and taking care of funeral arrangements.

The house is expected to sell for between $110,000 - $140,000. This info was provided to me as an estimate by a realtor and was done without an appraisal. When the house is actually ready to be put on the market, I will of course, seek other opinions as to its value. When listed, the State will receive a copy of the listing to satisfy them that there's no 'hanky panky'.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am not an attorney and an atty is the best source for correct info, but you may be able to get an answer by 1) asking the court or 2) reading the applicable law...

I tried reading the applicable law, but right now the State Legislature has not published the newest changes to the Recovery Act, so everywhere I've looked it just states that very thing.

Probate Court is absolutely useless because the State's claim comes first, and that's all the court seems to be concerned with. They refer me to them and the State in turn dances around the issue and just doesn't give me an answer at all !

But thanks for replying !

Then an atty is the best source for you. By the way, probate mattes can be quite complicated... and since you are the administrator... you may want to seek legal advice anyway.. . you do not want to be found legally liable for either 1) mishandling an estate issue or 2) failing to handle an estate issue that you should have handled.