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The owner of a life insurance policy may be indicated on the policy; however, verification of the CSV must be obtained from the insurance company. As this will usually take several weeks, workers must be sure to follow up and, whenever possible, should enlist the assistance of the applicant/recipient and the local insurance office or agent. Awaiting verification of the cash surrender value is a valid extenuating circumstance for pending a case beyond the time standard. If there is no possibility that the CSV will cause excess resources (for example, the policy has been in force a short time and the person's other resources are minimal), the application can be approved prior to receipt of verification of the CSV. Efforts to obtain the CSV, however, must be continued. The CSV must be verified at each redetermination. In cases where resources are close to the resource limits, the cases must be flagged to alert the worker to check resources frequently, at a minimum, on a monthly basis. The Expected Changes screen should be used for this purpose. It is recommended that, at the time of application, workers request that the insurance company verify future cash surrender values as well as the current CSV. 2615.25.05.15 LIFE INSURANCE EXEMPTION (MED 1) The cash surrender value (CSV) of life insurance is exempt when the total face value (FV) of all policies owned by the applicant/member and their spouse (except term insurance and burial insurance) does not exceed $1,500, regardless of the beneficiary designation. If the total face value of any or all polices exceeds $1,500, the CSV is a countable resource. The spouse of the member/recipient is also entitled to have the CSV of life insurance exempted under this provision.31 In order for a trust, an escrow, or a life insurance policy, with a FV that exceeds $1,500 to be exempt as a resource in determining an applicant's or a recipient's eligibility for Medicaid, the applicant or recipient must: • Irrevocably assign the asset to a funeral trust or prepaid funeral agreement, and • Designate to the State of Indiana or the applicant's or recipient's estate to receive any remaining amounts after delivery of all services and merchandise under the contract as reimbursement for Medicaid assistance provided to the applicant or recipient after fifty-five (55) years of age. Once the life insurance policy has been irrevocably assigned to funeral planning (i.e., irrevocable funeral trust or an irrevocable prepaid funeral agreement), only then can it be exempted if it designates the state or the applicant’s/recipient’s estate is to receive any remaining amounts after the goods and services are paid for. If questionable, send it to PAL for review. Example1: Sally has a life insurance policy with a face value of $30,000. The policy was properly transferred over to the funeral home and created an irrevocable funeral agreement which designates the state or Sally’s estate to receive any remaining funds after all services and merchandise have been paid. The life insurance cash surrender would be exempt on the date the funeral agreement is irrevocable