Dad went into assisted living on State and Federal funding until he had to sell his home and spend down. When he spent all he had on his care, he was again eligible for government funding. When he died he only had a checking account into which his social security was deposited and then used for his care. He died with a $43 balance. Do I have to file a 1041 Estate form? There really was no estate. I was POA and took care of his finances. Upon death I became the executor.
At $43.00 there is no need for a final tax filing, no estate filing, no executorship or anything else. Now as Dad was on Medicaid, you as his Medicaid contact person may get a packet from the state or its outside contractor. It will be a NOI (notice of intent) that will state that dad died with a debt to the state of $zxc.oo. It will be the figure of whatever is the tally Medicaid paid for him. Could be six figures. There may be a short or long questionnaire with the Notice. You can fill it out... the questions are like was there a life insurance policy paid to his estate, status on home, car, land, etc. All stuff he didn’t have at death. They will ask if probate is being opened and his banking details. You can attached a copy of his last bank statement showing he died with $43.00. It’s not recoverable as the minimum for recovery is Estate with 3k in assets.
Did dad have a personal needs account at the NH? Like to pay for barber shop or to buy incidentals. Sometimes this gets overlooked. The NH should send you a check for the balance within a month or 2 if he was all current on his Medicaid. If they do it as “Estate of...”, ask if it can be reissued in your name.