What the State gives with one hand to help people in financial difficulties, it can take back with the other after their death. Here are the aids concerned.
Did you know? So-called non-contributory social aid and benefits – because the beneficiary has not contributed to receive them – are considered as simple advances which may, in certain cases, be the subject of an action for recovery.
However, the reimbursement of social assistance is extremely regulated. It must be exercised no later than five years following the death of the beneficiary of the benefits. Failing this, there is limitation, the inheritance claim can no longer be exercised.
From whom can social assistance be recovered?
Article L132-8 of the Social Action and Families Code (CASF) specifies that recourse to recover social assistance can be exercised:
against the beneficiary of social assistance income better fortune. This recovery action takes place during the lifetime of the beneficiary of social assistance.
Against the donee that is to say the person who benefited from a donation from the beneficiary of social assistance, when the donation took place after the request for social assistance or in the ten years which preceded this request.
Against the legatee. This is therefore the beneficiary of a legacy granted by the beneficiary upon his death.
Against the beneficiary of a life insurance contract subscribed by the beneficiary of social assistance, up to the premiums paid after the age of 70. This appeal can only take place if there is no other means of obtaining reimbursement of social assistance. When the life insurance contract benefits several people, recovery takes place in proportion to each person’s share.
Aid recoverable under conditions
Certain old age allowances paid by Carsat, the retirement insurance fund, or the MSA if you depend on the agricultural regime, may be subject to a request for reimbursement. It mainly concerns thesolidarity allowance for the elderly (ASPA), a monthly income to guarantee them resources of a decent level.
until very recently, it could be claimed if the net inheritance assets remaining after deduction of the debts of the deceased person, in particular funeral expenses, was at least 39,000 euros in mainland France or 100,000 euros in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Reunion and Mayotte.
The pension reform coming into force on September 1, 2023 has modified these ceilings until the end of 2029 to increase them to 100,000 euros in mainland France and 150,000 euros in overseas territories.
As of July 1, 2022, the recoverable amount could not exceed 7,794.27 euros per year for a single person and 10,427.56 euros per year for a couple (husband, partner, civil partnership).
The recovery now applies to the part which exceeds 100,000 euros (or 15,000 euros in the overseas territories). If the net estate assets are below this threshold, the law does not authorize recovery.
I touch the Aspa. Will my heirs have to repay it when I die?
The ASI exempts!
Since January 1, 2020, theadditional disability allowance (ASI), intended for people suffering from disability and who cannot meet the age condition to receive Aspa, can no longer be claimed.
The total amount of sums paid under home social assistanceof home medical helpof the specific dependency benefit or taking charge of hospital daily rate can also be recovered from the estate if the estate assets exceed 46,000 euros. Only expenses exceeding 760 euros, and for the portion exceeding this amount, can give rise to recovery. Note that if the specific dependency service (PSD) no longer exists – it has been replaced by the APA – it remains recoverable from the estate of the people who benefited from it under this name of PSD.
Aid recoverable from the first euro
When an elderly person and/or person with a disability or loss of autonomy is accommodated in an Ephad, a long-stay establishment or any other institution, and they are unable to pay their living expenses, the ‘social assistance for accommodation (ASH), paid by the departmental council, takes care of this in totality or in part depending on the resources of the beneficiary.
In recent years, a new profession has been developing: family welcoming. The individual who wishes, after having obtained approval, can accommodate his or her home temporarily or permanently, in return for remuneration for an elderly person. The departmental council pays the accommodation costs to the family host when the person staying there has little or no resources. Whether the accommodation takes place in an establishment or with a family host, the sums paid as social assistance for accommodation are recoverable from the first euro, therefore regardless of the amount of the inheritance.
This aid cannot be recovered except in exceptional circumstances.
Can never be the subject of an action for recovery: the active solidarity incomethere compensation benefit for disabled peopleL’allowance for adults with disabilitiesL’compensatory allowance for third partyL’education allowance for disabled children. The amounts paid under thepersonalized autonomy allowance can never be the subject of recovery from the estate of the beneficiary, neither from the legatee nor from the donee, nor from the beneficiary of a life insurance contract (article L232-19, code of social action and families). The Council of State recalled in 2010 that benefits, even if non-recoverable, can still be claimed from the heirs if they were paid in error.