Commonwealth v. Sheriff

This is an appeal by the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (the Department) from a judgment denying its claim against a decedent’s estate for the unreimbursed costs of care and maintenance of the decedent while he was a patient in State mental hospitals.

Solomon King Jefferson died intestate on December 22, 1977, seised of 50 acres of land. Jefferson had been a patient at Central State Hospital and Piedmont State Hospital since February 2, 1972. Three months before his death, the Department filed a motion for judgment against him seeking damages of $18,964.73. This represented…