Is the heir liable for care home and nursing costs?
The costs of institutionalisation and care can be so high that the person concerned cannot cover them with their pension and care insurance. If institutionalisation is nevertheless necessary, the costs will be borne by the social welfare provider. However, the heirs may then be obliged to reimburse the social welfare provider's expenses. The social welfare payments within a period of 10 years prior to the inheritance are relevant.
The „recourse to heirs“ is important for social assistance providers because the person in need of social assistance is often left with considerable assets as part of the so-called "protected assets". For example, appropriate properties or owner-occupied flats belonging to the person in need or their spouse are not affected as long as the person in need or their spouse lives in them (§ 90 Para. 2 No. 8 SGB VII). In cases where the person concerned has become in need of social assistance due to the level of care home costs, this naturally involves protecting the spouse who still lives in the house or owner-occupied flat.
If the needy person has died and the house or condominium was part of their estate, their heirs should not benefit from these substantial assets, while the general public has previously borne part of the costs of residential and nursing care for years.
Whether a plot of land or a condominium is appropriate depends on characteristics such as plot size, house size, furnishings, market value, etc. The social welfare organisation cannot encumber appropriate properties or condominiums with mortgages.
Not only the heirs of the person in need of social assistance are affected by the recourse of heirs, but also the heirs of the spouse. The heirs of the person in need of social assistance and the heirs of the spouse are often the same persons, e.g. the joint children. The background to this is the basic obligation of the spouses to assume responsibility for each other. The obligation of the spouse to cover the costs of the other's living expenses also extends to the heirs. Therefore, if it is not the needy person (who is accommodated in the home) who dies, but the spouse of the needy person and the previously spared house or condominium was part of his or her assets, the heirs of the spouse are liable for recourse.