---
title: "North Dakota Medicaid Estate Recovery | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/north-dakota/medicaid-estate-recovery/
description: "North Dakota makes a preferred claim against a recipient's estate, with statutory survivor protections and a limited hardship-waiver policy."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
North Dakota · Estate Recovery

# North Dakota Medicaid Estate Recovery

Last updated 2026-10-20

North Dakota HHS describes Medicaid estate recovery as a requirement under both federal and state law, meaning a deceased recipient's property may be used to repay benefits the state paid out. Under Century Code section 50-24.1-07, once a recipient who was 55 or older when assistance was received passes away — or in certain cases involving permanently institutionalized recipients — the medical-assistance amount becomes a preferred claim against the decedent's estate, paid after specified higher-priority expenses. That's a probate-estate claim structure, not a statute defining the recoverable estate to sweep in every nonprobate arrangement.

HHS's estate-recovery manual follows that same narrower focus: it defines the estate as property and other assets the decedent owned at death, walks through probate claim procedures, and states that named-beneficiary financial accounts and life estates generally fall outside recovery. A transfer-on-death deed still needs its own separate look, though, because the TOD deed statute itself permits estate creditors to reach deeded property when the probate estate can't cover the claim — so avoiding probate alone isn't a complete recovery analysis.

## Sources and official resources

- [North Dakota HHS: Medicaid Eligibility](https://www.hhs.nd.gov/healthcare/medicaid/eligibility)
- [U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.

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