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BASIC MAINTENANCE ITEMS: Exclude household goods and personal effects essential to day-to-day living such as clothes, jewelry, furniture, and other similar items of value including a home computer or satellite TV dish. BONDS: Countable. Bonds include United States savings bonds and Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. If a joint owner has physical possession and refuses to surrender possession to the client, the bonds are considered inaccessible and are excluded as they must be presented to cash them in. BURIAL ACCOUNTS/ CONTRACTS: Burial accounts (bona fide funeral agreements) that exceed $1,500 equity value per individual are countable in full unless the agreement is irrevocable. Exclude funeral agreements that are inaccessible or irrevocable. A funeral agreement/contract is irrevocable if: 1. Both the client and funeral home representative have signed the agreement; 2. The price of each major service is specified; 3. The total dollar amount of the agreement is specified; 4. The client was neither a minor nor legally declared incompetent when the agreement was signed; and 5. The agreement specifies in writing that the money is not refundable under any circumstances. 6. Additionally, if the agreement is created in Montana; a. The client must have been receiving public assistance at the time the agreement was signed or, b. The client must have applied for public assistance within 6 months of the execution of the agreement. PLEASE NOTE: All burial accounts/contracts that are created in a state other than Montana must be sent to the Policy Unit for review. ABD: Certain otherwise countable resources may be excluded for burial. These resources must be separately identifiable and set aside for burial expenses and may not be commingled. They include: 1. Life insurance, if the total face value of all life insurance owned by the individual is $5000 or less. 2. Funds in an irrevocable burial trust (see CMA 402-3 Trust Funds) or contract (see above for irrevocable burial contract definition). 3. A maximum of $1500 per individual set aside in an account if designated by account title or via signing HCS-470 “Burial Designation”. This $1500 exclusion is reduced by the face value of ordinary life insurance whose cash surrender