How strange language is. In England being middle class means you are well off, upper class means your family go back years but doesn't guarentee wealth, working class probably means you just about get through and below that god help you! I too am curious as to why Morty suddenly wants to know about retirement in the US but it may be because she has family there and I know an elderly Aunt has been poorly. Surely if the law there is that medicaid can recover costs from the heirs to the estate then they are assuming that an estate has been inherited so are only claiming from over and above what the heirs already had so to speak. This presumably would include life insurance payouts and the like.