How to Fill Out and Submit the Texas MERP Certification Form

The Texas MERP certification form is a free, one-page request called the Authorization and MERP Certification. You send it to Health Management Systems (HMS), the contractor that runs the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program for the state, and HMS tells you whether Texas has a claim against a deceased person’s estate for Medicaid-funded long-term care they received at age 55 or older.¹ Title companies, probate attorneys, and executors use the returned certification to prove a property can transfer clean, or to identify a debt that has to be resolved before the estate closes.

Where to Download the Form

The official PDF sits on the Texas Health and Human Services website under the title “Authorization and MERP Certification.”² Some county websites host copies as well. If you would rather have one mailed or faxed to you, call HMS at 1-800-641-9356.³ There is no filing fee.

What to Put on the Form

You complete the top of the form and Section 1. HMS completes Section 2 after their review.²

Your Contact Information (the FROM Block)

List your full legal name, a mailing address where HMS can return the completed certification, and a daytime phone number. If you’re an attorney or work for a title company, add the firm name; an individual heir can leave that line blank or write “N/A.” Give a fax number, an email address, or both. Providing an electronic return channel is what separates a same-week answer from a mailed one.

Deceased Person’s Information (the RE Block)

Enter the decedent’s full legal name exactly as it appeared on Medicaid records. If you aren’t sure, match the death certificate. Include the date of death from that certificate. HMS needs the Medicaid ID number, the Social Security number, or both; either one alone is enough to run the search, and the Medicaid ID is printed on the recipient’s benefits card. Finally, list the complete street address of the real property involved. If the estate holds more than one property, put down each address.

Section 1: Signatures

Section 1 gives HMS permission to release MERP claim information to the requestor. Every heir, beneficiary, or estate representative needs to sign and print their name. When the estate is in probate and the court has appointed an executor or administrator, that person signs. Without a probate proceeding, all known heirs should sign. A missing signature is the most common reason forms come back unprocessed, so check every signature line before you send the packet.

How to Submit It

HMS accepts the completed form four ways:²

Online portal at submissions.hms.com/submissions/estate/MERP
Email to merpcerts@gainwelltechnologies.com
Fax to 214-560-3918
Mail to HMS, 5615 High Point Drive, Suite 100, Irving, Texas 75038

The portal and email are the fastest. If you mail the form, use certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery should the closing timeline become an issue.

What HMS Sends Back

HMS runs the Social Security number or Medicaid ID through the state’s Medicaid billing records, completes Section 2, and returns the form to you with one of three findings:²

No claim. There is no pending MERP claim and the state does not intend to file one. This is the clearance a title company or probate court needs to move forward.
Claim already filed. A claim has been filed against the estate in a stated dollar amount, with supporting documentation.
Claim intended. MERP plans to file a claim in a stated dollar amount but hasn’t done so formally yet.

Keep a “no claim” certification with the estate’s permanent records; the title company will require a copy before issuing title insurance. If a claim is identified, the estate representative has to resolve it before closing. MERP claims are paid after funeral costs, legal fees, and secured debts such as mortgages, so they don’t jump ahead of those obligations.

When the State Cannot Recover

Under the Texas Administrative Code, MERP will not pursue a claim if any of these people were alive at the recipient’s death:⁴

A surviving spouse.
A child under 21.
A child of any age who is blind or disabled under Social Security standards.
An unmarried adult child who lived full-time in the decedent’s homestead for at least one continuous year immediately before the recipient’s death.

Recovery is also barred when the estate’s total value is $10,000 or less, or when the cost of recovery would exceed what the state could collect.³ Even when you’re confident an exemption applies, submit the form anyway. A title company will not take your word for the exemption; they want the written certification.

Federal law adds two protections against liens on the recipient’s home. A sibling who has an ownership interest in the home and lived there for at least one year before the recipient entered long-term care is protected. So is an adult child who lived in the home for at least two years before the recipient’s institutionalization and provided care that let the recipient stay home longer than they otherwise could have.⁵ If either applies, include a short explanation with your certification form so HMS can note it during review.

If a Claim Comes Back

You have three practical paths. Pay the claim from estate assets. Dispute the amount if you believe it’s wrong, for instance because it includes services provided before March 1, 2005, the effective date of Texas MERP. Or file an undue hardship waiver.

Undue Hardship Waiver

The waiver request form arrives with the Notice of Intent to File a Claim that HMS sends after the recipient’s death. You have 60 days from that notice to submit the hardship request.⁶ Texas recognizes hardship in these situations:

The estate property has been the site of a family business, farm, or ranch for at least 12 months before the recipient’s death, produces 50 percent or more of the heirs’ livelihood, and recovery would cost them that income source.
Recovery would push the heirs onto public or medical assistance.
Allowing the heirs to receive the estate would let them stop relying on public assistance.
The recipient received Medicaid because of a crime committed against them.
Other compelling reasons, at the state’s discretion.

Two things do not count as hardship: losing an expected inheritance, and circumstances created by estate planning designed to shelter assets from recovery.⁶

Homestead Hardship Exemption

Texas has a separate homestead hardship rule. If the tax appraisal district value of the home is under $100,000, the entire home is exempt from recovery. If the appraised value exceeds $100,000, the first $100,000 is exempt and only the amount above that threshold is subject to the claim.⁶ To qualify, one or more siblings or direct descendants (children, grandchildren) must inherit the homestead, and each qualifying heir must have a gross family income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. No deductions apply; it’s a straight gross income test. When some heirs qualify and others don’t, only the percentage of the homestead corresponding to the qualifying heirs’ share is exempt.

The Claim Doesn’t Reach Heirs Personally

A MERP claim is an unsecured debt of the estate, paid after funeral expenses, attorney fees, and secured debts like a mortgage. If the estate’s other debts consume all available assets, the claim may go partially or entirely unpaid. The state cannot pursue heirs personally for any shortfall; recovery is limited to what’s in the estate.³

Once a claim is resolved by payment, waiver, or release, ask HMS for a written release. File it with the probate court and give a copy to the title company. That release clears the estate to distribute remaining assets and finalize any property sale.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets
2
Texas Health and Human Services. Authorization and MERP Certification
3
Texas Health and Human Services. Your Guide to the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program
4
Legal Information Institute. 1 Texas Admin Code 373.207 – Exemptions from Claims
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets
6
Legal Information Institute. 1 Texas Admin Code 373.209 – Undue Hardship Waivers