My parents both applied for Medicaid and now I am needed to do a MERP, why?

Also you don't want to ignore all this as having a claim or lien on the property will be an issue when you later on go to sell the property or try to get any equity lending on the property. The lien or claim may not be recorded at the courthouse but will show up when a title search is done.

Jud - ok so what exactly have you gotten???
-Did you get a letter that is an " intent to file a claim /lien" letter from the state or it's outside contractor for estate recovery (MERP)? And it is requiring a response within a specific period of time (like 60 days)? Is letter sent to property address or to you at your address if it's is different?

- Or is is a bill and if so how does the bill read...like Estate of Jane Smith or is it your name only OR you & your daughters name?

-How long ago did your folks do the property transfer to you? How was it done...like via a warranty deed or a Quit Claim deed? When did you record it at the courthouse? What is tax assessor value at time of transfer? When did they each apply for Medicaid?

- who did their Medicaid application? Like did you sign off on it as their DPOA or did they do both applications for Medicaid on their own?

- were you the contact person on file for Medicaid for them? Like you got the eligibility letters or the renewal applications, etc from Medicaid.

-was there a period of time that the property was empty or vacant but was still opened by them?

- And how long since they have died? did they die with valid wills and have you opened probate?

MERP is in my experience is very much a sequenced set of actions over a specific time frame. If your state has an outside contractor doing MERP, it will liklely be a very aggressive debt collection agency type of play book. Now if you open probate or have other legal (like a lady bird deed) involved it moves recovery into a different play book. So the answers on the above is important as it will tell where all this is in the legal maze that is estate recovery. My suggestions as to what to do depends on the answers on the above.

FF is right, it has to be transferred at least 5 years before the Medicaid application date. If you have more details, please share them.

If your parents had gifted the house within 5 years of either of them applying for Medicaid, then Medicaid can place a lien on the house to get their share of the cost involved for taking care of your parents.