C Estate Claim Exemptions

Policy

Some property and resources in the customer’s estate may be exempt from estate recovery.  There are two groups of estate claim exemptions:

·        Estate Claim Exemption for Resources of Native Americans and Alaska Natives

·        Estate Claim Statutory Exemptions

1)    Estate Claim Exemption for Resources of Native Americans and Alaska Natives

The following resources belonging to Native Americans (NA) and Alaska Natives (AN) are not subject to estate recovery:

·        Tribal land and other resources currently held in trust and judgment funds from the Indian Claims Commission and the U.S. Claims Court;

·        Property, including real property and improvements, located within or near the bounds of a tribal nation or located within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation as designated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior;

·        Rents, leases, royalties, or usage rights related to natural resources, including extraction of natural resources, or harvesting of timber, other plants and plant products, animals, fish, and shellfish, resulting from the exercise of federally protected rights.

·        Ownership interests in, or usage rights to, items that have unique religious, spiritual, traditional, and/or cultural significance or rights that support subsistence or a traditional lifestyle according to applicable Tribal law or custom.

2)    Estate Claim Statutory Exemptions

In certain circumstances, an AHCCCS estate claim may be deferred. These situations are referred to as Estate Claim Statutory Exemptions. Exemptions may exist when the deceased ALTCS customer is survived by any of the following:

·        A spouse;

·        A child under age 21; or

·        A child of any age who meets SSA or SSI disability criteria and is blind or disabled.

Legal Authorities