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Department
of Human Services Families
First Online Policy Manual Resources |
Revised: |
17.2 |
COUNTABLE/NON-COUNTABLE RESOURCES |
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·
Agent Orange Settlement payments are not
countable resources. Veterans who
are eligible under the program receive disability payments each year they are
disabled during the life of the program.
Lump sum payments received by survivors of deceased veterans are also not countable resources. ·
Basic maintenance items that are essential to daily living such as
clothing, furniture, appliances, and other similar essential household goods
and equipment of limited value are not
countable resources. ·
Bonds are countable resources. ·
Burial agreements are not
countable resources. ·
Burial plots, grave sites, crypts,
mausoleums, urns, or other repositories are not counted as
resources. ·
Burial policies are
not countable resources. A burial
policy is different from a burial agreement.
It is usually purchased from a funeral home for a certain premium per
week or month. These policies pay only
for burial costs at the death of the person named on the policy and have no
cash value. ·
Cash on hand is a countable
resource. ·
Checking accounts in a bank, credit union or other financial
institution are countable
resources. ·
One-time Crisis Intervention Program payments
to assist with utility costs from the Crisis Intervention Program are not countable resources. ·
Disqualified Individual - Resources of an individual who is
disqualified because of an Intentional Program Violation are countable resources. ·
Payment made
through the Domestic Volunteer Service
Act of 1973, as amended, for volunteer services are not countable resources.
These programs include Foster Grandparents, Service Corps of Retired
Executive (SCORE), Active Corps of Executives (ACE), and other programs under
Title II and Title II of the Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-13, as
amended), and VISTA payments. ·
Earmarked Resources - Any governmental payments that are
specifically designated for the restoration of a home damaged in a disaster
and rental assistance during the restoration period,
are not countable resources. Such funds include those made by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Individual and Family
Grant Program, or disaster loans or grants made by the Small Business
Administration. ·
Payments
made under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for flood mitigation
activities shall not be counted as income or resources of the property owner. ·
Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) are not a countable resource. ·
Earned Income Tax Credit lump sum tax refunds are not counted as a
resource in the month of receipt and the month following receipt. They will be countable in the third month
following receipt. ·
Energy assistance payments or allowances made by a federal, state, or
local agency or by a charitable organization are not countable resources.
This exclusion includes payments made through the Department of Health
and Human Services, Low Income Energy Assistance Program, and the Community
Services Administration’s Energy Crisis Assistance and Crisis Intervention
programs. ·
An entrepreneurial account placed with a
micro-lending intermediary program with a balance of $5000 or less is not counted as a resource. See the Low-Income Entrepreneurial Escrow
Accounts chapter for details on these accounts. ·
Equipment used in a self-employment enterprise used to produce income is not a countable resource. ·
Payments
made under the Filipino Veterans
Equity Compensation Fund to certain veterans or spouses of veterans who
served in the military of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines during World War II are not
counted as a resource. (Bulletin 33, FA-09-19) ·
Benefits
from food programs, including WIC,
the value of food stamps and the value of school lunches or other school food
programs, are not countable
resources. ·
The home and lot owned or being
purchased and occupied by the Families First assistance unit and the property
surrounding the home which is not separated from the home by intervening
property owned by others is not
counted as a resource. Public
rights of way, such as roads and/or other public easements, which run through
the property surrounding the home, do not affect its classification of
homestead property. Temporary absences
from the home do not affect the classification and/or exemption of the home
if the AU has not acquired another home and intends to return to the exempt
home at a specified time. ·
The value of
an Individual Development Account
(IDA) of $5000 or less is not counted as a resource. See the Individual Development Account
Demonstration chapter for additional details regarding these accounts. ·
Resources of
an ineligible alien are countable only when the ineligible
alien is the parent of the AU child(ren). ·
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), Keogh plans, and 401K
plans of $20,000 or less are not counted as a resource. If the amount of money in an IRA, Keogh
plan, or 401K plan exceeds $20,000, only the amount in excess of the $20,000,
minus any penalty for early withdrawal, is a countable resource ·
Life insurance policy cash
values are not countable resources. ·
Insurance settlements for casualty/disaster loss to the home are
not countable as resources for
three months following receipt of the payment if the AU intends to reinvest
it in a homestead. ·
Payments to Native American Indians are not countable resources. These payments include: -
Alaska Native Claims Payments and Sac and
Fox Indian Claim Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlements
Act. P.L. 920203, Section 21 (a) and the Sac and Fox Indian Claims Agreement
P.L. 94-189; -
Payment for Certain Indian Tribes that are derived from certain submarginal lands of the United States which are held in
trust for certain Indian tribes; and -
Payments from Disposition of Funds of ·
Non-liquid assets used as collateral for a business loan are not countable resources if the lien
agreement specifically prohibits the assistance unit from selling it. ·
Non-Recurring lump sum payments and
retroactive payments are countable resources. Examples of retroactive payments are: ·
Pension Funds that are not accessible to the AU except at retirement or at
termination of employment are not countable
resources. If the employment is
terminated and the pension becomes accessible to the AU, it is then a countable resource. ·
Buildings, land and recreational properties, such as boats, vacation homes and mobile
homes that are not homestead property are countable resources.
(These are called non-exempt properties.) Income
producing real property is a countable
resource. ·
Non-Exempt property, unless there is a good faith effort to
sell, the property is a countable
resource. Real property, that is not homestead
property, that the AU is making a “good
faith effort” to sell, is not a
countable resource if the AU signs an agreement to repay the Families
First benefits received during the period of exemption. This exemption will not exceed nine
months. If the net proceeds of the
sale plus other resources in the AU at the beginning of the exclusion period
exceed the resource limit, there is an overpayment of Families First
benefits. To qualify for this
exemption the AU must : -
List the
property for sale with a real estate agency. -
List the
property for sale at auction with an auction company. -
Advertise
the property for sale on a continuous basis in the newspaper which serves the
area. If the real property is sold during the
nine-month exemption period, see the Procedures section for instructions
about repaying the Families First benefits.
Any proceeds remaining after repayment of the Families First benefits
are countable resources. If the real property remains unsold at the
end of the nine-month exclusion period, reevaluate the state of the
property. The county staff must decide
whether or not to declare the property as an inaccessible resource on the
basis that it could not be sold. Each
situation must be given careful consideration and handled on a case-by-case
basis. This decision should be based
on whether a good faith effort was made to sell the property and if a
reasonable offer to buy the property was declined. If the decision is made to count the
property as a resource, the benefits that the AU received during the entire
period would be an overpayment subject to the usual overpayment collection
procedures. If the decision is made
that the resource is inaccessible, do
not count the property as a resource. ·
Payments
made under P.L. 104-204 to children of
·
Proceeds from the sale of exempt real and
personal property if there is
no intent to reinvest the proceeds in other exempt real or personal property
are countable resources. If there is intent to reinvest the
proceeds in other exempt real or personal property, the proceeds will not be counted for three months after
the sale. Any exemption extensions for
longer than three months require approval from the Families First Policy unit
in the State Office. Extensions will
depend on the factors beyond the AU’s control to reinvest the proceeds, such
as illness, delays in construction, etc. ·
Real
property that the AU demonstrates that it cannot sell because it has only a life estate, use rights, lifetime
occupancy or dower rights is not a
countable resource. ·
Relocation Assistance Payments received under Title II of the Uniform
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 are not countable
resources. These payments include: -
Payments to
persons displaced as a result of the acquisition of real property. -
Relocation
payments to a displaced homeowner toward the purchase of a replacement
dwelling. Such payments are made only
to a displaced owner who purchases and occupies a dwelling within one year
following displacement. -
Replacement
housing payments to displaced persons who are eligible for a homeowner’s
payment. ·
Savings accounts in a bank, credit union or other financial
institution are countable
resources. ·
Savings certificates are countable
resources. ·
Stocks are countable resources. ·
Student grants and loans are not
countable resources for Families First AU members, stepparents or parents
of a minor in the home. ·
Trust funds - If a Families First applicant/recipient
claims that a trust fund is inaccessible, the individual will have 60 days
from the date of application/ reapplication to have the resource made available. If the caretaker is willing to try to have
the trust made available, he/she may be included in the assistance unit. If the caretaker does not follow through
within 60 days, he/she will be removed from the assistance unit. If the caretaker is attempting to have the
trust made currently available, assistance will continue (if otherwise
eligible) pending the court decision. -
The court’s
decision as to accessibility of the trust fund, as written in either a new or
amended order, is binding. -
The caretaker
will not be required to have trust funds made currently available in the
following situations and these trusts are not countable resources: § If a trust is established by a will. The terms of the trust will be followed as
they stand. § If a trust is producing regular income,
which is available to the beneficiary, the body of the trust will not be
considered a currently available resource, but the income will be countable
income. § If a trust has been set up for a minor
(usually until age 18) and the amount of the trust account is $5000 or less,
the caretaker will not be required to attempt to make the trust
accessible. In most instances, the
legal fees involved in such an attempt would erode the value of the trust to
the extent that it would not be cost effective to bring it to a state of
availability. ·
The equity
value of one vehicle that is under $4600 is not a countable resource. ·
The equity
value in excess of the $4600 plus the entire equity value of any other
vehicle, licensed or unlicensed, is a countable
resource. ·
(See
PROCEDURE for the procedures to use to determine the countable resource
amount of a vehicle.) Victims Compensation Awards paid on behalf of minors are not countable resources if: ·
The minor’s
parent, caretaker relative or guardian entered into an agreement with the
State Claims Commission as to the uses to be made of the funds and signed
such an agreement. ·
The funds
are deposited in accordance with the agreement. ·
The funds
remain on deposit or are used only according to the terms of the agreement. ·
Any funds
withdrawn and used for goods/services not specified in the agreement will be
treated as income in the month received. ·
Victims Compensation Awards paid to adults (age 18 or older) in their own behalf are
countable resources. |
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