Estate of Thompson, Matter of
| Decision Date | 22 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 980050,980050 |
| Citation | 586 N.W.2d 847,1998 ND 226 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Victoria Jane THOMPSON, Deceased. NORTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Petitioner and Appellee v. Lyndon R. THOMPSON, Personal Representative of the Estate of Victoria Jane Thompson, Deceased, Respondent and Appellant. Civil |
| Court | North Dakota Supreme Court |
Blaine L. Nordwall, Special Assistant Attorney General, Bismarck, N.D., for petitioner and appellee.
Steven E. McCullough, of Ohnstad Twichell, West Fargo, N.D., for respondent and appellant.
¶1 Lyndon R. Thompson, personal representative of the estate of Victoria Jane Thompson (the personal representative), appealed an order granting the claim of the Department of Human Services (the department) against Victoria Thompson's estate for medical assistance provided to her spouse, Nathaniel M. Thompson. We conclude 42 U.S.C. § 1396p authorizes the department's claim and North Dakota's estate recovery statute was not applied retroactively. We affirm.
¶2 Nathaniel Thompson received medical assistance benefits of $58,237.30 between January 1, 1991, and his death on December 20, 1992. His wife, Victoria Thompson, died on September 15, 1995, leaving an estate of $46,507.98. A copy of an application for informal probate and appointment of a personal representative was mailed to the department. 1 Lyndon Thompson was appointed personal representative.
¶3 The department filed a claim against Victoria Thompson's estate for $58,237.30 in medical assistance provided to Nathaniel Thompson and $9,356.79 in interest. The personal representative filed a notice of disallowance of the claim. The department petitioned the trial court for allowance of the claim. The personal representative moved for summary judgment, arguing: "The state statute [N.D.C.C. § 50-24.1-07] would allow recovery from the estate of a spouse while the federal statute [42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(1) and (2) ] would not." The department also moved for summary judgment. On January 8, 1998, the court denied the personal representative's motion for summary judgment and granted the department's motion for summary judgment and petition for allowance of its claim. The personal representative appealed.
¶4 The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. §§ 27-05-06 and 30.1-02-02. The personal representative's appeal is timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(a). This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 6, and N.D.C.C. § 28-27-01.
¶5 The personal representative contends the trial court erred in construing 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(1) to allow the department to recover medical assistance benefits provided to Nathaniel Thompson from the estate of his surviving spouse, arguing the plain meaning of the federal statute prohibits recovery of medical assistance benefits from the estate of a deceased recipient's surviving spouse.
¶6 Summary judgment is a procedure for the prompt and expeditious disposition of a controversy without trial if either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, if no dispute exists as to either the material facts or the inferences to be drawn from undisputed facts, or if resolving factual disputes would not alter the result. Close v. Ebertz, 1998 ND 167, p 8, 583 N.W.2d 794. Interpretation of a statute is a question of law, which is fully reviewable by this Court. Jensen v. North Dakota Workers Comp. Bureau, 1997 ND 107, p 9, 563 N.W.2d 112.
¶7 The primary objective of statutory construction is to ascertain the Legislature's intent. Effertz v. North Dakota Workers' Comp. Bureau, 481 N.W.2d 218, 220 (N.D.1992). In ascertaining legislative intent, we look first at the words used in the statute, giving them their ordinary, plain-language meaning. Shiek v. North Dakota Workers Comp. Bureau, 1998 ND 139, p 16 582 N.W.2d 639. We construe statutes as a whole to give effect to each of its provisions, whenever fairly possible. County of Stutsman v. State Historical Society, 371 N.W.2d 321, 325 (N.D.1985). "If the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, the legislative intent is presumed clear from the face of the statute." Medcenter One, Inc. v. North Dakota State Bd. of Pharmacy, 1997 ND 54, p 13, 561 N.W.2d 634. If statutory language is ambiguous, we may resort to extrinsic aids to construe the statute. Hassan v. Brooks, 1997 ND 150, p 5, 566 N.W.2d 822. For an ambiguous statute, 2B Norman J. Singer, Sutherland Stat. Constr. § 56.01 (5th ed.1992).
¶8 When Nathaniel Thompson began receiving medical assistance benefits, N.D.C.C. § 50-24.1-07 provided, in part:
On the death of any recipient of medical assistance who was sixty-five years of age or older when he received such assistance, the total amount of medical assistance paid on behalf of the decedent following his sixty-fifth birthday must be allowed as a preferred claim against the decedent's estate.... No claim must be paid during the lifetime of the decedent's surviving spouse....
Effective August 1, 1995, N.D.C.C. § 50-24.1-07 was amended to provide in part:
1. On the death of any recipient of medical assistance who was fifty-five years of age or older when the recipient received the assistance, and on the death of the spouse of such a deceased recipient, the total amount of medical assistance paid on behalf of the recipient following the recipient's fifty-fifth birthday must be allowed as a preferred claim against the decedent's estate....
2. No claim must be paid during the lifetime of the decedent's surviving spouse, if any ....
[Emphasis added.]
¶9 When Nathaniel Thompson died on November 20, 1992, 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b) (1988) provided in part:
(b) Adjustment or recovery of medical assistance correctly paid under a State plan. (1) No adjustment or recovery of any medical assistance correctly paid on behalf of an individual under the State plan may be made, except--
....
(B) in the case of any other individual who was 65 years of age or older when he received such assistance, from his estate.
(2) Any adjustment or recovery under paragraph (1) may be made only after the death of the individual's surviving spouse, if any....
¶10 Effective October 1, 1993, after Nathaniel Thompson's death, but before Victoria Thompson died on September 14, 1995, 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b) (1994) was amended to provide in part:
(b) Adjustment or recovery of medical assistance correctly paid under a State plan. (1) No adjustment or recovery of any medical assistance correctly paid on behalf of an individual under the State plan may be made, except that the State shall seek adjustment or recovery of any medical assistance correctly paid on behalf of an individual under the State plan in the case of the following individuals:
....
(B) In the case of an individual who was 55 years of age or older when the individual received such medical assistance, the State shall seek adjustment or recovery from the individual's estate....
....
(2) Any adjustment or recovery under paragraph (1) may be made only after the death of the individual's surviving spouse, if any....
....
(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term "estate", with respect to a deceased individual--
(A) shall include all real and personal property and other assets included within the individual's estate, as defined for purposes of State probate law; and
(B) may include, at the option of the State ... any other real and personal property and other assets in which the individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death (to the extent of such interest), including such assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the deceased individual through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement.
[Emphasis added.]
¶11 The personal representative contends the plain meaning rule of statutory construction requires reversal because 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(1) does not allow recovery of medical assistance benefits from the estate of a recipient's spouse. He argues:
It contains a general blanket prohibition on the recovery and recoupment of correctly paid medical assistance benefits ("no ... recovery ... may be made"). Id. It then goes on to provide several exceptions to this general prohibition ("except that the State shall seek ... recovery ... in the case of the following individuals"). Id. The statute does not then allow recovery from the estate of the recipient's surviving spouse, but only from the estate of the recipient. Id.
However, the "plain meaning" of the very broad definition of the recipient's estate in 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(4) must also be considered. That definition gives the State the option to include in the recipient's "estate" from which it may recover medical assistance benefits after the death of the recipient's surviving spouse any
real and personal property and other assets in which the individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death (to the extent of such interest), including such assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the deceased individual through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement.
That expansive definition is broad enough to encompass the department's claim against the estate of a deceased spouse of a deceased recipient of medical assistance benefits for the amount of medical assistance paid out, to the extent the recipient at the time of death had any title or interest in assets which were conveyed to his or her spouse "through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement." 2
¶12 The court in In re Estate of Craig, 82 N.Y.2d 388, 604 N.Y.S.2d 908, 911, 624 N.E.2d 1003 (N.Y.Ct.App.1993), has also construed the 1993 amendm...
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