Whenever a person, who has received General Assistance from the Department, owns or thereafter acquires real or personal property or an interest therein or becomes employed, the Department on behalf of the State of Vermont may recover on this statute against him or her the amount the Department has expended for General Assistance furnished him or her or his or her family. If the person is deceased, the amount expended by the Department shall be allowed as a claim against his or her estate as a debt due the State. All statutory exemptions shall apply in the civil action. Statutes of limitations shall not be a defense or bar a debt due the State. (Added 1967, No. 147, § 7, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)