Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 19, Number 14, DeMotte, Jasper County, 4 March 1949 — Welfare Head Clears Points On Aid Liens [ARTICLE]

Welfare Head Clears Points On Aid Liens

Director Allman Says Circulation of Misinfromation Causes Public Confusion From a number of articles which have appeared in the press and from discussions which we have here at home and elsewhere in the State, it is so evident that there is such a vast amount of misinformation and misunderstanding about the lien and recovery provisions of the Public Welfare Act that we feel the obligation to properly inform at least the readers of this newspaper. The law itself is the authoritative source. It is known as The Welfare Act of 1936 and constituted Chaper 3, page 12, of the Acts of 1936. There have been several amendments fco bring it to its present form, and t it is the amended Act from which we quote. Section 38 provides for! the issuing of a certificate when assistance is granted to an aged person and the distribution of same and states that “From the date on which such certificate is filed in the office of the county recorder, it shall be and constitute due notice of a lien against the recipient and his estate for any amounts recoverable under this act, and shall give a specific lien in favor of the state and county departments against the real property of the recipient, which lien shall continue from the date of the filing of such notice, until such lien is satisfied, and which Hen shall take priority over any other lien subsequently acquired.” . . . “The state and county departments of public welfare shall have the right to bring proceedings in foreclosure on said lien or to make arbitration of the amount due on said lien whenever the public interest may be better protected by such action, provided that no foreclosure shall be commenced against the homestead of the recipient while occupied by

the recipient or his spouse, except in Case of fraud. (Our underlining) Said department may, at any time, assert the lien against other real estate of the recipient.” Section 44 reads as follows: “The county department shall, under the rules of the state department, require, as a condition to granting assistance to an aged person, in any case, that the applicant shall submit an agreement to reimburse the state and the county for all assistance granted, from whatever source such assistance may have been derived. Said agreement shall create and constitute a lien upon the real property of the recipient and shall have priority over all liens subsequently acquired.” And in Section 45 we find: “Upon the death of any person who is a recipient of aged assistance, a claim shall be filed against his estate by the county department of public welfare for recovery of all assistance paid to or on behalf of such person from the after May 1, 1947. Such claim shall be for all . amounts paid by any county beginning with any payment made on May 1, 1947, or thereafter and shall be on behalf of the state department and any county department which has paid assistance to said recipient. . . If the real estate of a deceased recipient is occupied by a surviving husband or wife, the department of public welfare shall not assert its lien or claim during the lifetime of said surviving spouse unless other claimants or persons have

opened an estate and are attempting to enforce their claims in which case the department shall file _ and assert the claim for recovery of old age assistance.” Now. that is the actual wording of the law and it can readily be seen that (1) there is no transfering of the title to real estate from the recipient to the welfare department; (2) the welfare department cannot sell the property of a recipient; (3) there can be no foreclosure of the lien during the life-time of the recipient or a surviving spouse unless some other creditor brings such an action or in case of fraud; (4) the estate of a deceased recipient of old age assistance has the same status as the estate of any other person and is probated and brought to final settlement through the administrator or executor under the jurisdiction of the Court; (5) that the position of the welfare department is just the same as any other creditor who may have advanced money or services to the recipient; and (6) the law clearly expresses the intent of guaranteeing possession of the real estate to the recipient during his lifetime and that of a surviving spouse. It is not our intention here to argue the merits or demerits of these sections of the law but to give facts from which any intelligent person may draw their own conclusions. We hope this will help to clarify the misunderstanding which seems to be prevalent. K. F. Allman, Director Jasper County Dept, of Public Welfare,