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Chapter: 1800 Income Program: MSSI, SFP 37 not valid and not negotiable the loan is not a countable asset, the entire payment received (principal and interest) is counted as income.

Note: Loans signed before March 1, 2005 may be excluded as income producing property. When a loan is excluded from countable assets under income producing property policy, the entire payment received (principal and interest) is counted as income. 1840.1302 Contributions (MSSI, SFP) All direct money payments from any source that represent gain or benefit to the individual are included as unearned income.

A contribution is cash received by any member of the standard filing unit. A contribution may be received on a one-time basis or on regular or irregular intervals.

An allowance is considered a contribution when paid to an individual by a person outside the individual's standard filing unit. This would apply to money from a non-legal father when there is a legal father.

The individual must provide verification of the amount received as a gift or contribution. When written verification is unavailable, documentation must include the following information:

1. date verbal verification received, 2. source of verification, 3. source of funds, 4. date made, and 5. amount.

Standard verbal verification policy applies. If the individual is unable to obtain verification, discuss with the individual. The eligibility specialist should then use the best information available and record this in CLRC.

Contributions to a Facility:

For OSS, contributions made to the facility on behalf of the individual are not considered as income as long as the payment is made directly to the facility and does not exceed four times the recognized cost of care.

Note: Social Security does consider contributions as income (in-kind support and maintenance) to determine the amount of an SSI payment. If an OSS applicant/recipient's SSI is decreased, rejected or terminated because of contributions to the facility, the OSS payment cannot be increased to offset the SSI reduction. 1840.1303 Trusts (MSSI, SFP) A trust is a right of property held by one party for the benefit of another. The person for whose benefit the trust is created is the beneficiary. If the beneficiary has a right to the income from the principal of the trust, then it is counted as unearned income as it becomes available. If the beneficiary has no right to the income from the principal of the trust and the income is added to the principal, then the earnings from the principal are not considered income.

Refer to passages 1640.0576.01 - 1640.0576.11 for specific information regarding availability of trusts as an asset. 1840.1304 Gifts (MSSI, SFP) A gift may be excluded if it is infrequent or irregular. To be a gift, an item must meet the following requirements: