Dad died after having to go on Medicaid after going into a nursing home we liquidated everything except the life insurance that didn't have a cash surrender value. Now that he has died will Medicaid come back and take this also or will we have to wait years for them to come after it.
If the beneficiary name is you, then once you have a death certificate for dad, you contact the insurance company, provide the info & death certificate and they will send you a check for whatever the policy benefit was. Most pay within 60 days.
BUT if dad named his estate to be the beneficiary, then the $ becomes an asset of the estate and subject to any claims placed against the estate in probate. medicaid through its MERP system is required to attempt a recoup of all costs paid for care. Just where MERP is in estate claims will depend on your states probate laws.
In the past it was pretty routine for men (like in the 1960's) to put their life insurance policy to pay the estate rather than the surviving spouse.