Help Gabriel’s family keep their home

Back in 2015 my oldest son met his very best friend, Gabriel. They were 3yrs old at the time, both shy as can be, but instantly connected. A few months later, Gabriel introduced me to his parents at a school event, where I learned they were both blind.

 

I was later introduced to Gabriel’s grandmother, Teresa Pracon. She was the adult eyes of the family if you will. She brought Gabriel to all of my sons birthdays parties, we would often stop in the halls at school to chat and occasionally would grab coffee together.

 

Gabriel’s family would welcome another child, Emily, in 2020 and Teresa was so joyful to have a granddaughter.

 

A week before Teresa’s 50th birthday, April of 2021, she learned that she had an “ultra-rare” aggressive form of cancer. Just 6 months later Teresa would be taken from this earth.

 

Gabriel’s families life was turned upside down. I reached out to his parents, Bernadetta and Cameron, to see if there was any help we could offer. They have never taken me up on the offer, until today when I suggested a gofundme to help with their current and unfathomable situation.

 

Bernadetta shared their story on social media and I’m hoping that we can help keep Gabriel’s family from becoming homeless.

 

“The state of CT is trying to take away my home based on a 30-year debt that's not even mine, and that we had no knowledge of. It doesn’t matter that I’m blind, or that I am low income myself, or that I have two children who will be virtually homeless as a result of this. I'm mainly sharing this for awareness, since most people don't know this can happen under the following circumstances.

 

My mom passed away seven months ago now, and in the midst of grieving her loss, I've also been trying to navigate the probate system as her estate administrator. My mom worked very hard all her life, yet she passed away with very little to her name. Still, her car, a small bank account, and the house we own (because my mom had stake in it) had to be entered into probate, so that anything she had could formally transfer over to me as her sole heir by law.

Probate is a complicated process in general, but I'm learning that when the state of CT throws you a curve ball in the form of a surprise debt owed, that's when the real headache begins.

Just as the case was supposed to wrap up, I received a letter from the CT department of administrative services, saying that the state was attempting to recover a debt from her estate, because back in the early nineties, just after she emigrated here from Poland, my mom received some sort of cash assistance benefit from the state. The debt they are seeking now is over 30 thousand dollars, according to them. They itemized the debt in yearly increments, though each of the items is listed by some sort of internal code that I don't understand. The DAS wouldn't elaborate on any of the individual items either; they just insisted it's "cash assistance."

 

Anyway, long story short, my mom's estate doesn't amount to even half of the states claim, so they are threatening me with a lean on my house in order to recoup their portion. In other words, they are going to try and force me to give up my house, so that they can sell it at market value, and take whatever money they claim I owe them for a debt from public assistance paid out to my mom 30 years ago. I'm supposed to lose my house thanks to a public assistance benefit paid out when I was a toddler.

 

I've exhausted myself looking into legal options and loopholes to try and fight this claim, and even my probate lawyer has tried to help. The only compromise they've been able to come up with is, well, not a compromise at all. Basically, the state will allow me to keep my house if I contribute the remainder of the debt that the estate won't cover. In short, they want me to whip out 20 thousand plus dollars from thin air and hand it over. (as if anyone these days has that kind of money to spare on short notice).

Here's what I've learned from my research on this ridiculous predicament:

 

1. Only the state of CT and New York are still placing so-called "welfare" leans on people's property. So basically all other states don't try to punish poor people for having dared to buy a home or secure any sort of property of value. Just these two states, which ironically, are the two most liberal states in the country. If you ever needed help from either of these states, they readily give it to you, without telling you they'll want it repaid with interest later on, if you happen to climb up the financial ladder to own anything of value, like real estate.

 

2. The state of CT actually gave up the practice of putting "welfare leans" on properties last year, due to a new law passed by Gov. Lamont. All old leans placed on property in order to recover cash assistance or Medicaid costs were released as of July 1 of last year.

 

3. The exception to that is estates. So in other words, the state will oh-so-generously refrain from putting a lean on your house while you're still alive, but once you die and your children attempt to inherit any share of your property, all bets are off.

 

4. There is a federal law that says if a person dies owing the state any money for medical care, and they happen to have a blind adult child, the state can't recover that debt. However, cash assistance is another story, apparently. If the debt is for cash assistance, apparently the same rules do not apply. (which is arbitrary as hell).

 

Nowhere, when people signed up for cash assistance in the nineties or earlier, does it say that the benefit is in fact a loan from the government. It's not even in the small print, which the government readily admits. This convoluted set of laws is unique to this state, and it's still in practice. I want people to understand this and be aware of it, in case they are using public assistance or may need to use it in the future.

 

You may not have to pay it back while you're alive, but you'll be paying it back with interest when you're dead. The state of CT does not care that my partner and I are both blind, that we have two young kids, and that the home that they're going after is the roof over our heads. We can either pay up, or be blind and homeless, in the middle of a national housing crisis and during a time of inflation, no less.

 

Ironically, destabilizing my family in this way may mean that we'll need to rely on public assistance ourselves. How counterproductive is that?

 

I don't know how yet, but I'm probably going to have to come up with the money to pay the debt in the end, because the alternative is unfathomable. but in the meantime, I have decided to bring as much attention to this as possible. I'm going to try to contact my state reps as well as the governor and attorney general, and I am considering writing an Op Ed as well. Because no matter how my case turns out, the ridiculousness of these circumstances deserves public scrutiny and legislative attention.”

 

If you can offer this family help in anyway, we would all appreciate it so much.