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claimed in combination with the 6-month disregard but can be claimed again after a 12month break in assistance. See Chapter 6, 3-Month Income Disregard.

4104 Volume III | Chapter 4

6. Marriage disregard allows income and resources of a new spouse to be disregarded for six (6) months. See Chapter 3, Marriage Disregard. VERIFICATION OF INCOME Verification of earned income must include the name and address of the employer, the frequency of payment, the day of the week or date of the month the payment is regularly received, the hours worked, gross income and deductions, etc. Verification can be accomplished by check stubs, using the MDHS-EA-910, Request for Employment Verification, etc. However, where all attempts to verify the income have been unsuccessful because the person or organization providing the income has failed to cooperate with the assistance unit and the worker, and all other sources of verification are unavailable, the worker shall determine an amount to be used based on the best available information. EARNED INCOME TO BE AVERAGED/PRORATED The only types of earned income that can be averaged are from contractual or self-employment. From Contractual Employment Income from contractual work must be considered as being received in each month covered by the contract regardless of the number of months in which the income is received. Consider the contract to be twelve months when a school related employee has the option to receive gross earnings from school employment over a twelve-month period. From Self-Employment Self-employment differs from other employment in that mandatory deductions are not withheld prior to the individual receiving pay. Gross self-employment income is determined by deducting allowable business expenses from the gross income of the business enterprise, farming, sale of blood, etc. Follow MAVERICS instructions in Volume X, Chapter 3 for self-employment income. Self-employment income may be received irregularly or on a regular basis and is handled as follows: • Self-employment income which represents the family s annual support will normally be averaged over a 12 month period, regardless of whether or not the income is received monthly or less often than monthly. MISSISSIPPI [ INCOME: EARNED INCOME ]

Revised 11 - 01 - 11