Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My understanding is that the Department of Health Care Services, Recovery Section, handles Medi-Cal recovery, i.e., if Medi-Cal is owed money for payments that it has made on behalf of a Medi-Cal beneficiary, the Recovery Section would seek reimbursement. Keep in mind that Medi-Cal has typically been for low-income and automatically has a lien by statute for certain payments that it makes. I do not know the rules for reimbursement.

The payment by the executor MAY have been improper depending on the reasons/basis for Medi-Cal's assertion of a lien.

Also, if there's an executor, is there a probate? If a probate was Medi-Cal given notice of the probate?

Sounds like the Recovery Section should be contacted to find out the basis for the asserted lien, the amount of the lien, etc.

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If the decedent was a recipient of Medi-Cal benefits or was the surviving spouse of a deceased Medi-Cal recipient, then there's a estate recovery claim from DHCS. The address you mentioned is in fact the DHCS Recovery Section's address.

If your church member was on Medi-Cal then it's important to note that DHCS is a preferred creditor, taking priority over any other debt except secured debt and cost of administration.

I think it would be appropriate for the person who has been handling the estate (he or she isn't an executor unless appointed by the court as executor) should consult with an elder law attorney, review all off the decedent's assets and how they were titled, and see what, if any, assets are subject to estate recovery. As a rule, if it's got her name on it, it's subject to estate recovery claims, but assets could have been sheltered if they were transferred out of her name prior to her death or otherwise sheltered in an irrevocable trust.