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Home→Agencies→Medicaid Estate Recovery→Tennessee→When someone dies

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Tennessee: when someone dies

A 5-step process for Division of TennCare — Estate Recovery after a death in Tennessee.

OverviewWhen someone dies

Medicaid Recovery

Tennessee

tn.gov/tenncare/legal/estate-recovery.html→

Administering agency

Division of TennCare — Estate Recovery

Phone866-389-8444
WebsiteVisit website →

Authority

Tenn. Code 71-5-116

Verified Jul 2026

Steps to take

  1. Determine whether the deceased received TennCare CHOICES long-term care at age 55 or older.
  2. Complete and submit a Request for Release form to the TennCare RFR Processing Unit to learn whether the estate owes money or qualifies for a waiver.
  3. If money is owed, TennCare provides a claim and itemized statement; address it as a debt of the estate before distributing assets.
  4. Apply for an undue-hardship waiver through TennCare if the estate is the sole income-producing asset of survivors or a qualifying caregiver lived in the home.
  5. File the TennCare release with the probate court clerk before closing the estate, as required for a decedent enrolled in TennCare at death.

Division of TennCare — Estate Recovery

Phone: 866-389-8444

Visit the agency website →

Frequently asked questions

Recovery is waived while a surviving spouse is living, and while there is a surviving child under 21 or a blind or permanently and totally disabled child. TennCare also recognizes undue-hardship situations, including an estate that is the survivors' sole income-producing asset and a qualifying caregiver who lived in the home.

Complete a Request for Release form and submit it to the TennCare RFR Processing Unit at 310 Great Circle Road, 3rd Floor, Nashville, TN 37243, or call 866-389-8444. If the estate owes money, TennCare sends a claim with an itemized statement.

SimplyTrustSimplyTrust Editorial·Updated July 14, 2026

Sources

  • tn.gov
  • law.justia.com

Data sourced from Medicaid Estate Recovery in Tennessee primary sources (3 pages reviewed). How we research.

Medicaid Recovery

Tennessee

tn.gov/tenncare/legal/estate-recovery.html→

Administering agency

Division of TennCare — Estate Recovery

Phone866-389-8444
WebsiteVisit website →

Authority

Tenn. Code 71-5-116

Verified Jul 2026
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