Failure to Timely Convey Deceased Resident’s Personal Funds to Proper Estate Authority
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to convey a deceased resident’s personal funds and provide a final accounting to the appropriate probate jurisdiction within 30 days of death, as required by State law and the facility’s own Resident Funds Accounts policy. The policy, last updated in 8/2020, states that upon a resident’s death, unutilized resident funds and a final accounting must be sent within 30 days to the appointed executor or administrator of the estate, or, if none exists, to the County Public Administrator, and where applicable, in accordance with Surrogate Court Procedure Act Section 1310. For one resident, the date of death was documented, but instead of following this 30‑day requirement, the facility delayed disposition of the funds and did not send them to the probate jurisdiction administering the estate. Record review showed that when the resident died, the facility’s practice was to wait 6 months before acting on the funds. After this waiting period, the facility mailed a check from the Resident Fund Trust Account to the County Department of Social Services overseeing the resident’s Medicaid, but the county returned the check, stating it no longer accepted Personal Needs Account funds and provided an address for where the funds should be sent. A subsequent letter from the County Attorney confirmed that Personal Needs Account checks for Medicaid reimbursement should instead be sent to the New York State Department of Health. A check for $10,785.41 was then issued from the Resident Fund Trust Account to the New York State Department of Health to close the resident’s account. An email from the New York State Department of Health’s Division of Legal Affairs documented that funds of a deceased resident must be returned within 30 days of death. During interview, the facility’s Director of Finance reported being new to the position at the time, and described confusion about where and when the money should have been sent, as well as family dynamic issues that complicated disbursement of the funds.
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