Page 177

MEDICAL SERVICES POLICY MANUAL, SECTION E

E 514 Determining Equity Value

• Mortgage companies, and similar lending institutions or • Officials of the local real property tax jurisdiction. The full details of the individual’s share of the ownership interest in the unprobated estate must be given to the knowledgeable source to obtain an accurate estimate of value. If a free estimate of the value cannot be obtained, it will be the individual’s or his or her authorized representative’s responsibility to obtain the estimate. The costs of settling the estate including funeral expenses, payment of mortgages and other debts, attorney fees, etc. will be deducted from the value of the whole estate before determining the individual net interest. A knowledgeable source estimate of these costs will also be used in making this determination, if the actual costs are not known. Document all findings in the electronic case record.  NOTE: If the consent of others who have an interest in an unprobated estate is required in order to sell an individual’s interest in the estate, and the other owners refuse to give consent, then the individual’s share is not counted as a resource. 6. Rights to Use Mineral rights, timber rights, easements or leaseholds may all be countable resources if they have a cash value available to the individual on disposition. However, in many cases, none of the above are saleable and, therefore, would not be a countable resource. Mineral rights can be leased and may be considered a resource. See MS E-515 for guidelines to use to determine the value of an Oil and Gas Lease.

Determining Equity Value MS Manual 10/26/15 Equity value of either a home or non-home real property is determined by deducting outstanding encumbrances (e.g., liens, mortgages, etc.) from the currentmarket value (CMV) of the property. CMV is the amount for which the property can be expected to sell on the open market. The equity value determination of property owned by the individual must be fully documented in the case record. The individual’s allegation of property value is accepted without further verification when the following conditions are met: