Medicaid Estate Recovery in South Carolina: when someone dies

Administering agency

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery

Visit the agency website →

Authority

S.C. Code 43-7-460 (and 43-7-410 et seq.); 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)

Verified May 2026

Steps to take

Determine whether the deceased received Medicaid long-term care at age 55 or older, or was a patient in a nursing facility or other medical institution at death.
Confirm whether estate recovery applies — no claim is filed when the estate is worth $25,000 or less.
Contact SCDHHS Medicaid Estate Recovery at (803) 898-2932 to confirm whether a claim applies and to request the amount.
Address the claim as a debt of the estate, paid after higher-priority claims such as funeral expenses, taxes, and attorney fees.
Submit an undue-hardship waiver request to SCDHHS after the recipient's death if the family's circumstances meet the conditions in the law.

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery

Phone: (803) 898-2932

Frequently asked questions

SCDHHS recovers the cost of long-term care — nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and the hospital and prescription drug services provided to people in those settings — from the estate of a recipient who was 55 or older when the care was provided, or who was in a nursing facility or other medical institution at death.

Recovery does not apply when the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under age 21, or a child who is blind or permanently disabled. SCDHHS also files no claim when the estate is worth $25,000 or less, and may waive recovery upon proof of undue hardship.

No. Only the assets of the deceased recipient's estate are considered. A Medicaid estate recovery claim is paid from the estate after higher-priority claims, and is never collected from surviving family members personally.

Medicaid Recovery

South Carolina

Administering agency

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery

Authority

S.C. Code 43-7-460 (and 43-7-410 et seq.); 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)

Verified May 2026

Medicaid Estate Recovery in South Carolina: when someone dies

A 5-step process for South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery after a death in South Carolina.

OverviewWhen someone dies

Medicaid Recovery

South Carolina

Administering agency

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery

Visit the agency website →

Authority

S.C. Code 43-7-460 (and 43-7-410 et seq.); 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)

Verified May 2026

Steps to take

Determine whether the deceased received Medicaid long-term care at age 55 or older, or was a patient in a nursing facility or other medical institution at death.
Confirm whether estate recovery applies — no claim is filed when the estate is worth $25,000 or less.
Contact SCDHHS Medicaid Estate Recovery at (803) 898-2932 to confirm whether a claim applies and to request the amount.
Address the claim as a debt of the estate, paid after higher-priority claims such as funeral expenses, taxes, and attorney fees.
Submit an undue-hardship waiver request to SCDHHS after the recipient's death if the family's circumstances meet the conditions in the law.

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery

Phone: (803) 898-2932

Frequently asked questions

Medicaid Recovery

South Carolina

Administering agency

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services — Medicaid Estate Recovery