Florida’s Medicaid estate recovery program runs on two time limits. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) must file its claim within three months of the first publication of a probate notice to creditors, and an outside limit of two years from the date of death bars any claim against the estate after that point, whether or not probate was ever opened. Those two deadlines are the core of Florida Medicaid estate recovery time limits, and which one controls depends on what the family does after the recipient dies.
The Three-Month Probate Deadline
The short clock starts when a probate estate is formally opened. The personal representative publishes a Notice to Creditors in a local newspaper, running it once a week for two consecutive weeks in the county where the estate is being administered.1Justia Law. Florida Code 733.2121 – Notice to Creditors; Filing of Claims
If the deceased was 55 or older, the personal representative has an added duty: serve a copy of the notice and the death certificate directly on AHCA within three months of the first publication date, unless AHCA has already filed its own claim.1Justia Law. Florida Code 733.2121 – Notice to Creditors; Filing of Claims
Once served, AHCA must file its claim with the probate court. Under Florida law, no creditor’s claim is timely unless filed by the later of three months after first publication or 30 days after service on the creditor.2Official Internet Site of the Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 733.702 – Claims Against Estate; Limitations Because AHCA must be served, the effective deadline is the later of those two dates. When the personal representative serves AHCA promptly, the three-month window from first publication usually controls. If service comes late in that window, AHCA picks up an extra 30 days from the service date.
A claim filed after that deadline is barred. The personal representative can and should object to any untimely claim, and the probate court will strike it.
The Two-Year Cutoff From Date of Death
A separate and much longer limit applies when no probate is opened, or when a notice to creditors is never published. Florida Statute 733.710 sets a flat two-year bar: once two years pass from the date of death, the estate, the personal representative, and all beneficiaries are released from any claim against the decedent, no matter what else has happened.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 733.710 – Limitations on Claims Against Estates
This is a statute of repose. It does not pause, toll, or restart. The one carve-out is for claims already filed within the two-year period but not yet resolved; those survive past the two-year mark until the court disposes of them.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 733.710 – Limitations on Claims Against Estates
Some families consider simply never opening probate, letting the two years run, and taking the estate free of the Medicaid debt. The strategy can work, but AHCA knows it exists. The agency has authority to open a probate case itself within the two-year window and file its claim there. Whether it bothers depends on how much it stands to collect and whether the estate holds non-exempt assets worth pursuing.
Which Assets the Clock Applies To
Both deadlines govern claims against the probate estate. Florida defines “estate” for recovery purposes using the narrow probate definition: the property of a decedent that is subject to court-supervised administration.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 731.201 – General Definitions AHCA can only file a claim against assets that pass through probate.
Assets that bypass probate sit outside the deadline framework entirely because they are outside the recovery framework entirely. Bank and retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, property held in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, and assets placed in a living trust before death are generally beyond AHCA’s reach. Federal law permits states to adopt a broader estate definition that would capture these transfers; Florida has not.
The practical effect on timing: if a Medicaid recipient dies owning nothing in their sole name, there may be nothing to file a claim against, and the two-year clock becomes less a deadline than a formality. If a home sits titled solely in the recipient’s name, probate will be the natural path and the three-month clock becomes very real.
Pre-Death Liens Follow Different Rules
The three-month and two-year deadlines govern claims filed after death. AHCA can also act before a recipient dies by placing a lien on real property under what is commonly called a TEFRA lien. That lien attaches during the recipient’s lifetime when the recipient is an inpatient of a medical institution required to contribute income toward care, and the state has determined the person cannot reasonably be expected to return home.5eCFR. 42 CFR 433.36 – Liens and Recoveries
Before placing a TEFRA lien, the agency must notify the recipient and offer a hearing. If the recipient is later discharged and actually returns home, the state must remove the lien.6Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Estate Recovery A TEFRA lien cannot be placed on the home if the recipient’s spouse, a child under 21, a blind or disabled child, or a sibling with an equity interest in the home lawfully resides there.5eCFR. 42 CFR 433.36 – Liens and Recoveries A pre-death lien that already exists at the time of death does not go away just because a probate deadline expires; it stays attached to the property as a separate encumbrance.
When the Deadlines Don’t Matter
Even a claim filed well within the three-month window fails if a statutory exemption applies. The main ones:
- Recovery is barred entirely if the recipient is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled. Any one of these survivors shields the whole estate.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.9101 – Recovery for Payments Made on Behalf of Medicaid-Eligible Persons
- Property that qualifies as Florida homestead passing to a legal heir is exempt from the recovery claim, because the statute incorporates Florida’s constitutional creditor protections.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.9101 – Recovery for Payments Made on Behalf of Medicaid-Eligible Persons
- Federal law protects the home from lien enforcement when a sibling with an equity interest lived there for at least a year before the recipient entered a facility, or when an adult child lived there for at least two years and provided care that delayed institutionalization, and in each case has continued living there.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets
If any of these apply, the question of whether AHCA met its deadline becomes moot: the claim cannot be collected regardless.
Hardship Waivers After a Timely Claim
If AHCA files on time and no automatic exemption applies, an heir or personal representative can still ask the agency to waive recovery for undue hardship. Florida law recognizes four hardship categories, including an heir who was living in the decedent’s home as a primary residence for at least 12 months before death and owns no other residence, and a sibling or child who provided full-time care that delayed nursing-home entry and lived with the recipient for at least a year before death.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 409.9101 – Recovery for Payments Made on Behalf of Medicaid-Eligible Persons The statute states that wanting to receive an inheritance is not a hardship. A waiver request is a separate track from the filing deadlines; it addresses enforcement of a claim that was timely filed.