Maryland Medicaid Estate Recovery

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Maryland

Maryland defines the recovery estate by probate law

Maryland’s current Medicaid recovery regulation defines “estate” as all real and personal property and other assets included within an individual’s estate as defined for purposes of Maryland probate law. The regulation does not state a separate expanded, nonprobate definition, so this page describes Maryland as probate-law-estate recovery rather than assuming that every joint, trust, life-estate, or TOD arrangement is automatically reached or automatically protected (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

The Department must seek recovery of correctly paid Medical Assistance benefits from the estate of a person who was age 55 or older when benefits were received, and may also recover from an estate or on sale of property subject to the regulation’s lien rules. A home that was excluded during the eligibility decision can therefore require a separate post-death recovery analysis (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

When Maryland must wait or cannot recover

Recovery under the estate rule is postponed until after the death of a surviving spouse and only when there is no surviving child within the regulation’s definition and no surviving blind or disabled son or daughter. For a home lien, the regulation also protects a qualifying sibling or a qualifying caregiving son or daughter who meets its residence and continuity conditions (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

Maryland excludes recovery for Medicare premiums, copayments, and deductibles paid by Medicaid. It also says the Department may not recover from an estate to the extent of the value of long-term-care Partnership policy benefits furnished to the person up to death. That is a specific statutory-program protection, not a protection supplied by every private long-term-care policy (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

Maryland’s substantial-hardship standard is narrow

The regulation defines substantial hardship as an estate claim that would require sale or transfer of decedent-owned real property and thereby remove a dependent who lived there at death, had lived there continuously from at least two years before death, and cannot provide an alternate residence. The dependent category includes specified children or descendants, siblings, and parents or ancestors of the decedent (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

COMAR says the Department may not seek recovery if, in its judgment, substantial hardship exists. The regulation does not state a hardship-request form, filing deadline, decision deadline, or hardship-specific appeal procedure; an heir facing a notice should contact the Department promptly and obtain legal advice rather than wait for a process not stated in the rule (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

Maryland recovery scope: estate as defined by state probate law; recovery generally concerns correctly paid benefits after age 55; survivor protections and a dependent-home hardship rule can limit timing or recovery (COMAR 10.09.24.15).

For home-planning context, see The Home. An executor, beneficiary, or dependent should preserve notices, deeds, probate papers, Partnership-policy records, and proof of residence before responding.

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Maryland defines the recovery estate by probate law

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