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Chapter: 1600 Assets

Program: FS 1 1610.0000 Food Stamps The policies in this chapter apply only to standard filing units that are not categorically or broad- based categorically eligible or to broad-based categorically eligible households that contain a member age 60 or over or meets the definition of food stamp disabled and does not meet the 200% of the federal poverty level gross income limit. 1610.0100 ASSET DEFINITION (FS) Assets, liquid or nonliquid, are assets or items of value that are owned (single or jointly) by an individual who has access to the cash value upon disposition.

Liquid assets are cash assets or assets that are payable in cash on demand. Nonliquid assets are assets that cannot be readily converted to cash.

Assets of each member of the SFU must be determined. A determination of whether each asset should be included or excluded must be made. 1610.0200 ASSET LIMITS (FS) The asset limit is the maximum amount of liquid and/or nonliquid assets that an assistance group can retain and remain eligible for public assistance.

The total countable assets of the assistance group cannot exceed:

1. $3,000 for assistance groups that do not include an elderly or disabled member; or 2. $4,500 for assistance groups that include a member(s) who is elderly or disabled. Elderly is defined as being age 60 or older. An individual may be considered elderly if they will be age 60 by the last day of the application month.

For categorically eligible households, countable assets are assumed to be within the FS asset limits. 1610.0206 Verification of Assets (FS) Verification of all assets, except cash, is required when the total assets of the SFU are within $100 of the asset limit. The individual’s statement of the amount of cash is accepted. If it is clear from the individual’s statement that total assets exceed the limitation or if the individual is ineligible on another factor, assets need not be verified. 1610.0300 ASSET OWNERSHIP AND AVAILABILITY (FS) Any individual who has the legal ability to dispose of an asset is considered the owner of the asset. The type of ownership (single or joint) of an asset determines to whom the asset is available and the value that is counted to the individual. 1610.0301 Joint Ownership (FS) Joint ownership exists when the legal right to dispose of an asset is shared by more than one individual. 1610.0302 Joint Ownership of Bank Accounts (FS) When an individual is a joint account holder who has unrestricted access to the funds in the account, you must presume all of the funds in the account are owned by the individual. This presumption is made regardless of the source of the funds.