HFS defines the estate subject to Illinois Medicaid recovery narrowly: it's the real and personal property of a deceased recipient that is subject to probate, and nothing beyond that.
That matters because Illinois has chosen not to adopt the federally optional expanded estate definition, which in other states can reach non-probate interests like joint tenancy property, trust assets, or payable- or transfer-on-death designations. In Illinois, those non-probate assets generally stay outside recovery's reach.
Qualifying deaths also come with a $25,000 first-dollar exemption, and the state has defined hardship-waiver procedures for families who need one.