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MEDICAL SERVICES POLICY MANUAL, SECTION E

E 513 Determining Value of Ownership Interest

4) Married Couple Living Apart in the Community – Only one applying for PACE or ARChoices – If only one member of a legally married couple living in the community is applying for PACE or ARChoices, the Spousal Impoverishment rules at MS H-200-212 will apply in determining the attribution of resources to each spouse The equity value of non-excludable property will be included in the initial assessment and in the attribution of resources, regardless of the community spouse’s consent or refusal to sell. When both members of a “living apart” married couple in the community are applying for or receiving Long Term Services and Support (LTSS) assistance, half of the equity value of non-excludable property is a countable resource to each individual. If there is difficulty determining resources or income due to inability to obtain information due to a legally married couple living separately, the applicant will need to make a good faith effort to contact the absent spouse and obtain the necessary information. The caseworker will document the efforts to contact the spouse if those efforts are unsuccessful. The applicant will not be denied eligibility due to the inability to contact the absent spouse as long as a good faith effort was made to do so. 3. Life Estate or Remainder Interest Examine the deed which granted the life estate or remainder interest. If there is a restriction which prevents the life estate holder or remainder holder from disposing of his interest, the value of the life estate or remainder interest is not a countable resource. If there is no restriction to prevent the disposal of the life estate interest or remainder interest, the following steps will be used to determine its resource value. a. Determine the equity value of the property (Re. MS E-514). b. Select the table at Appendix U for life estate or remainder interest as appropriate. c. If there are joint life estate holders, divide the equity value of the property by the number of owners (e.g. if there are 3 life estate owners, divide the equity value of the property by 3.)