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419.

UNEARNED INCOME AND DOCUMENTATION

Income not usually earned from wages, rental property, sale of property, or self- employment.

1. Social Security Benefits Benefits administered by the Social Security Administration include Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) assistance, and Railroad Retirement. Gross income is counted for all income sources except for Social Security.

2. Child Support The question of child support should always be raised with single or remarried parents or guardians applying for DEAP. An applicant should provide payment records of support received for the previous 3 – 12 months. Acceptable verification includes a statement from child support offices or any court document.

3. Disability Payments from Insurance An individual may have insurance coverage that pays a specified amount for a specific period of time during which he/she is unable to work because of a disabling condition. Such disability payments made by an insurance company directly to the individual are counted as unearned income. Indemnity health insurance plans pay a specified benefit to a person based on the number of days the person is hospitalized. Variations on indemnity health insurance include accident and cancer policies. These benefits are counted as unearned income. However the verified documented amount of the benefit that is used for the payment of medical bills may be deducted from the benefit in computing the households’ income.

4. Dividends/Interest Dividends or interest earned on financial assets are counted as unearned income to the extent that they are realized (received) by the owner of the asset. Assets include: savings accounts, interest bearing checking accounts, equity shares (mutual funds and stocks), bonds, and retirement accounts, or other similar accounts. Dividends and interests from financial assets can be verified by earnings statements from the financial institution or Tax Form 1099 for the previous calendar year which is acceptable documentation in the first three months of the current calendar year.

The portion of any savings instrument (account), which represents the individuals’ contribution to the principle, is never considered as income. Saved money has already been counted as it was received by the household. For example, the principle withdrawn from a savings account or other cash asset is not used in income calculations. The principle is the amount of the asset that was contributed by the individual owner of the asset.