# Maine — Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules by State For Maine, what counts as the estate is All real and personal property and other assets included in the recipient's estate, as defined in Title 18‑C, section 1‑201 ; and (2) Any other real and personal property and other assets in which the recipient had any legal interest at the time of death, to the extent of that interest, including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir or assign of the deceased recipient through tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, joint tenancy in personal property or other arrangement but not including joint tenancy in real property; survivor protections is a claim may not be made under paragraph A , subparagraph (2) or (3) until: (1) The recipient has no surviving spouse; and (2) The recipient has no surviving child who is under age 21 or who is blind or permanently and totally disabled as defined in 42 United States Code, Section 1382c; citation is 22 M.R.S. §14, sub-§2-I, recorded from its source on 2026-08-31. - **State:** Maine _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_ - **What counts as the estate:** All real and personal property and other assets included in the recipient's estate, as defined in Title 18‑C, section 1‑201 ; and (2) Any other real and personal property and other assets in which the recipient had any legal interest at the time of death, to the extent of that interest, including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir or assign of the deceased recipient through tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, joint tenancy in personal property or other arrangement but not including joint tenancy in real property. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_ - **Survivor protections:** a claim may not be made under paragraph A , subparagraph (2) or (3) until: (1) The recipient has no surviving spouse; and (2) The recipient has no surviving child who is under age 21 or who is blind or permanently and totally disabled as defined in 42 United States Code, Section 1382c. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_ - **Undue hardship waiver:** A claim under paragraph A , subparagraph (2) must be waived if enforcement of the claim would create an undue hardship under criteria developed by the department or if the costs of collection are likely to exceed the amount recovered. A waiver may be granted in full or in part. A waiver may not be granted if the recipient or waiver applicant acted to lose, diminish, divest, encumber or otherwise transfer any value of or title to an asset for the purpose of preventing recovery under this subsection. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_ - **Citation:** 22 M.R.S. §14, sub-§2-I _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_ ## What the source says > 2-I. Claims against estates of MaineCare recipients. Claims against the estates of MaineCare recipients are governed by this subsection. A. The department has a claim against the estate of a MaineCare recipient when, after the death of the recipient: (1) Property or other assets are discovered that existed and were owned by the recipient during the period when MaineCare benefits were paid for the recipient and disclosure of the property or assets at the time benefits were being paid would have rendered the recipient ineligible to receive the benefits; (2) It is determined that the recipient was 55 years of age or older when that person received MaineCare assistance; or (3) It is determined that the recipient has received or is entitled to receive benefits under a long-term care insurance policy in connection with which assets or resources are disregarded and medical assistance was paid on behalf of the recipient for nursing facility or other long-term care services. ## Where each value comes from This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it. ### What counts as the estate > F. As used in this subsection, unless the context otherwise indicates, the term "estate" means: (1) All real and personal property and other assets included in the recipient's estate, as defined in Title 18‑C, section 1‑201 ; and (2) Any other real and personal property and other assets in which the recipient had any legal interest at the time of death, to the extent of that interest, including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir or assign of the deceased recipient through tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, joint tenancy in personal property or other arrangement but not including joint tenancy in real property. ### Survivor protections > C. Except for a claim collected through a voluntary payment arrangement under paragraph C‑2 , a claim may not be made under paragraph A , subparagraph (2) or (3) until: (1) The recipient has no surviving spouse; and (2) The recipient has no surviving child who is under age 21 or who is blind or permanently and totally disabled as defined in 42 United States Code, Section 1382c. ### Undue hardship waiver > E. A claim under paragraph A , subparagraph (2) must be waived if enforcement of the claim would create an undue hardship under criteria developed by the department or if the costs of collection are likely to exceed the amount recovered. A waiver may be granted in full or in part. A waiver may not be granted if the recipient or waiver applicant acted to lose, diminish, divest, encumber or otherwise transfer any value of or title to an asset for the purpose of preventing recovery under this subsection. ## Source - https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/22/title22sec14.html Last verified: 2026-08-31. Review by: 2027-08-31. Part of [Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules by State](https://referencesource.org/medicaid-estate-recovery-rules-by-state/).