§ 258.7. Postponement of collection.
(a) The Department will postpone collection of its claim until the last of one of the following occurs:
(1) The death of any surviving spouse.
(2) The death of any child who is blind or totally and permanently disabled, as determined under the standards of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program in the Social Security Act. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 1382.
(3) The date any surviving child is 21 years of age.
(4) The death of, property transfer by or vacating of the property by a sibling who has an equity interest in the property and who has been living in the home for at least 1 year prior to the death of the decedent.
(b) The personal representative has a duty to insure protection of the Department’s claim during the postponement period.
(c) The personal representative will be deemed to have complied with his responsibilities to protect the Department’s claim during the postponement period if, after liquidating the assets as appropriate and paying all expenses of administration and superior claims of creditors against the estate, the personal representative takes one or more of the following actions until the Department’s claim is fully protected, or until all protectable assets are protected.
(1) If the decedent’s estate contains real estate, the personal representative shall cause a mortgage or other recorded encumbrance to be placed against the real estate in favor of the Department.
(2) If the decedent’s estate contains one or more individual items of personal property with a fair market value in excess of $10,000, the personal representative shall cause a properly perfected security interest to be placed against the items of personal property in favor of the Department. A properly perfected security interest is a lien on property for payment of a debt, for which the necessary legal steps, as specified in 13 Pa.C.S. § § 9101—9507 (relating to the Uniform Commercial Code), have been taken to make the lien valid and enforceable against all third parties.
(3) If the estate contains cash or cash-equivalents in an aggregate amount in excess of $50,000, the personal representative shall cause that money to be placed in trust, with terms and trustees approved by the Department. The trust shall name the Department as remainderman and shall allow the spouse or child, or both, to consume income without court approval, shall allow the consumption of principal to pay reasonable medical expenses of the spouse or child, or both, and shall allow the consumption of principal for the benefit of the spouse or child, or both, with court approval. The personal representative may serve as trustee and a reasonable trustee fee may be provided by the trust document. A remainderman is a person entitled to receive money in a trust, upon termination of the trust.
(4) If the decedent’s estate contains protectable assets which are not adequately protected by the procedures in paragraphs (1)—(3), the personal representative shall appropriately protect the assets by another method, as approved by the Department.
(d) No interest is charged on the Department’s claim during the postponement period.
(e) Postponement of collection may be waived by a spouse, adult child or legal representative of a child under 18 years of age.
(f) The Department’s claim is subject to collection at the end of the postponement period.
Cross References This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 258.10 (relating to undue hardship waivers).
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