Succession. What social assistance will your heirs have to pay after your death?

What social assistance benefits do you receive and what payments will your heirs have to make to the estate? Who is requesting compensation? Is it organized? To answer you, Western France asked Maitre Alexandre Dezin, an associate lawyer at Drouet Advocates specializing in inheritance law.

To begin with, what is recoverable aid? It is an allowance or assistance paid to a destitute person. “This concerns, for example, specific assistance paid to the elderly such as the Solidarity Allowance for the elderly, not to be confused with Aspa, Apa, the Personal Autonomy Allowance which constitutes non-refundable assistance”, Maître Dazin explains, which makes it clear that this aid is part of national unity because it has not previously increased contribution payments.

Active Solidarity Income (RSA), APA (Personal Autonomy Allowance), AAH (Allowance for Disabled Adults), Disability Compensation Benefit (PCH) and the Supplementary Solidarity Health Fund. (formerly CMU) is not affected.

Within 5 years of death

This support is, for example, related to the Solidarity Allowance for the Elderly (ASPA – which replaces the Minimum Old Age). Also Social Assistance for Housing (ASH), which is an advance paid by the Divisional Council. Or “Additional Disability Allowance (ASI), or Social Assistance at Home”, Like carrying food or being a housekeeper.

Regarding reimbursement of all or part of assistance received, “He may intervene when either the beneficiary of social assistance has returned to better fortune, i.e. his situation has developed favorably and his wealth has increased significantly, and in this case direct recourse will be taken against him. Either the death of the beneficiary has occurred and left assets in his estate. The recourse will then be exercised against the heirs”, adds the lawyer.

Compensation must be requested within 5 years of death. And it is the Social Assistance Commission of the Department that will decide to initiate recovery proceedings, either against the beneficiary or against the estate. If the aid is not paid by the Department, it will be the State Services that will decide to appeal for compensation.

Also read: Real Estate and Inheritance: What Happens to Estate Taxes on Inheritance? We answer you

More common remedies

“It should be remembered that recovery of assistance can only be partial. Thus, for the solidarity allowance for the elderly, the department will only be able to charge an amount of €7,732.41 per year for one person.

Even if the allocation were higher.

“If the beneficiary has died and his estate has assets of more than €46,000 (or €39,000 for Aspa), the recourse will be exercised against heirs, usually children or heirs. Universal legacies can be sued for the entire debt while legacies of a specific property can be sued only for the value of the property. »

A levy can also be filed against deeds to the beneficiary’s property. For example, in cases where the estate no longer has sufficient assets, but the beneficiary gave away a large portion of his assets before his death. “Under certain conditions, those who have acquired property from the beneficiary of these allowances may be required to repay all or part of them”, Confirms the master design.

Finally, if the person receiving recoverable assistance has established a life insurance contract, it is possible to take recovery action against the designated beneficiary, “Only for the portion of premium paid after the age of 70 years”.

In practice, do recovery remedies really exist? For a lawyer, “Our age pyramid and the individualism of our society lead to these different types of support for older people without requiring more and more resources. Therefore, and since it is not a question of contribution assistance, payers (departments or states) now use these reimbursement requests more systematically.”

According to the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DRES), of the 2.15 billion euros in social assistance for the elderly (ASH) in 2018, 187 million euros were reimbursed at the time of succession. This compensation is governed by article L. 132 8 of the Social Action and Family Code (CASF) and differs depending on the type of assistance provided.