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62A-11-111. Lien provisions.
Provisions for collection of any lien placed as a condition of eligibility for any federally
or state-funded public assistance program are as follows:
(1) Any assistance granted after July 1, 1953 to the spouse of an old-age recipient who
was not eligible for old-age assistance but who participated in the assistance granted to the family
is recoverable in the same manner as old-age assistance granted to the old-age recipient.
(2) At the time of the settlement of a lien given as a condition of eligibility for the
old-age assistance program, there shall be allowed a cash exemption of $1,000, less any
additional money invested by the department in the home of an old-age recipient or recipients of
other assistance programs either as payment of taxes, home and lot improvements, or to protect
the interest of the state in the property for necessary improvements to make the home habitable,
to be deducted from the market or appraised value of the real property. When it is necessary to
sell property or to settle an estate the department may grant reasonable costs of sale and
settlement of an estate as follows:
(a) When the total cost of probate, including the sale of property when it is sold, and the
cost of burial and last illness do not exceed $1,000, the exemption of $1,000 shall be the total
exemption, which shall be the only amount deductible from the market or appraised value of the
property.
(b) Subject to Subsection (2)(c), when $1,000 is not sufficient to pay for the costs of
probate, the following expenditures are authorized:
(i) cost of funeral expenses not exceeding $1,500;
(ii) costs of terminal illness, provided the medical expenses have not been paid from any
state or federally-funded assistance program;
(iii) realty fees, if any;
(iv) costs of revenue stamps, if any;
(v) costs of abstract or title insurance, whichever is the least costly;
(vi) attorney fees not exceeding the recommended fee established by the Utah State Bar;
(vii) administrator's fee not to exceed $150;
(viii) court costs; and
(ix) delinquent taxes, if any.
(c) An attorney, who sells the property in an estate that the attorney is probating, is
entitled to the lesser of:
(i) a real estate fee; or
(ii) an attorney fee.
(3) The amounts listed in Subsection (2)(b) are to be considered only when the total costs
of probate exceed $1,000, and those amounts are to be deducted from the market or appraised
value of the property in lieu of the exemption of $1,000 and are not in addition to the $1,000
exemption.
(4) When both husband and wife are recipients and one or both of them own an interest
in real property, the lien attaches to the interests of both for the reimbursement of assistance
received by either or both spouses. Only one exemption, as provided in this section, is allowed.
(5) When a lien was executed by one party on property that is owned in joint tenancy
with full rights of survivorship, the execution of the lien severs the joint tenancy and a tenancy in
common results, insofar as a department lien is affected, unless the recipients are husband and
wife. When recipients are husband and wife who own property in joint tenancy with full rights
of survivorship, the execution of a lien does not sever the joint tenancy, insofar as a department
lien might be affected, and settlement of the lien shall be in accordance with the provisions of
Subsection (4).
(6) The amount of the lien given for old-age assistance shall be the total amount of
assistance granted up to the market or appraised value of the real or personal property, less the
amount of the legal maximum property limitations from the execution of the lien until settlement
thereof. There shall be no exemption of any kind or nature allowed against real or personal
property liens granted for old-age assistance except assistance in the form of medical care, and
nursing home care, other types of congregate care, and similar plans for persons with a physical
or mental disability.
(7) When it is necessary to sell property or to settle an estate, the department is
authorized to approve payment of the reasonable costs of sale and settlement of an estate on
which a lien has been given for old-age assistance.
(8) The amount of reimbursement of all liens held by the department shall be determined
on the basis of the formulas described in this section, when they become due and payable.
(9) All lien agreements shall be recorded with the county recorder of the county in which
the real property is located, and that recording has the same effect as a judgment lien on any real
property in which the recipient has any title or interest. All such real property including but not
limited to, joint tenancy interests, shall, from the time a lien agreement is recorded, be and
become charged with a lien for all assistance received by the recipient or his spouse as provided
in this section. That lien has priority over all unrecorded encumbrances. No fees or costs shall
be paid for such recording.
(10) Liens shall become due and payable, and the department shall seek collection of
each lien now held:
(a) when the property to which the lien attaches is transferred to a third party prior to the
recipient's death, provided, that if other property is purchased by the recipient to be used by the
recipient as a home, the department may transfer the amount of the lien from the property sold to
the property purchased;
(b) upon the death of the recipient and the recipient's spouse, if any. When the heirs or
devisees of the property are also recipients of public assistance, or when other hardship
circumstances exist, the department may postpone settlement of the lien if that would be in the
best interest of the recipient and the state;
(c) when a recipient voluntarily offers to settle the lien; or
(d) when property subject to a lien is no longer used by a recipient and appears to be
abandoned.
(11) When a lien becomes due and payable, a certificate in a form approved by the
department certifying to the amount of assistance provided to the recipient and the amount of the
lien, shall be mailed to the recipient, the recipient's heirs, or administrators of the estate, and the
same shall be allowed, approved, filed, and paid as a preferred claim, as provided in Subsection
75-3-805(1)(e) in the administration of the decedent's estate. The amount so certified constitutes
the entire claim, as of the date of the certificate, against the real or personal property of the
recipient or the recipient's spouse. Any person dealing with the recipient, heirs, or
administrators, may rely upon that certificate as evidence of the amount of the existing lien
against that real or personal property. That amount, however, shall increase by accruing interest
until time of final settlement, at the rate of 6% per annum, commencing six months after the lien
becomes due and payable, or at the termination of probate proceedings, whichever occurs later.
(12) If heirs are unable to make a lump-sum settlement of the lien at the time it becomes
due and payable, the department may permit settlement based upon periodic repayments in a
manner prescribed by the department, with interest as provided in Subsection (11).
(13) All sums so recovered, except those credited to the federal government, shall be
retained by the department.
(14) The department is empowered to accept voluntary conveyance of real or personal
property in satisfaction of its interest therein. All property acquired by the department under the
provisions of this section may be disposed of by public or private sale under rules prescribed by
the department. The department is authorized to execute and deliver any document necessary to
convey title to all property that comes into its possession, as though the department constituted a
corporate entity.
(15) Any real property acquired by the department, either by foreclosure or voluntary
conveyance, is tax exempt, so long as it is so held.
Amended by Chapter 366, 2011 General Session
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