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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES RESOURCES

10/24 VOLUME V, PART IX, PAGE 2

payments. Lump sum payments also include accumulated vacation, sick, or severance pay of terminated employees received in one installment.

f. Funds in a trust or transferred to a trust except as stated in Part IX.D.9.d.

g. Earned income tax credits count two months after the month of receipt regardless of whether the payments were received as a tax refund or periodically throughout the year. Earned income tax credits are excluded as a resource for the month of receipt and the following month.

NOTE: When determining the amount of nonexempt liquid resources to count, especially bank accounts, do not consider any amount that would count as income for the same month.

Example An applicant deposited his Social Security check into a checking account. The resource amount of the checking account would be the account balance minus the amount of the deposit.

Presume that joint bank accounts belong to the parties in proportion to their net contributions during the lifetime of all parties. A joint account between persons married to each other belongs to each party equally (half and half) however. Except for persons married to each other, each party's net contribution to the account may be established by signed statements from all parties if the verbal claim is questionable. If the parties can establish that they intended a different ownership arrangement, that ownership arrangement prevails over the above presumption.

Example A household member’s name is listed on her elderly mother's savings account. Both the household member and her mother provide statements that the daughter has not contributed any money to the account. The account is not a resource to the client.

If parties married to each other are divorced by final decree, ownership of a joint account is proportional to their net contributions unless the divorce decree specifies otherwise.

2. That portion of the liquid resources of an alien's sponsor and the sponsor's spouse (if living with the sponsor) deemed to be those of the alien according to procedures established in Part XII.C.2.

3. Business resources of self-employment arrangements. The worker must assess the business structure to determine countable resources. Determine the number of business owners and whether the business is incorporated. For arrangements that are not incorporated, assess liquid resources as belonging to the business owners in proportion to their ownership percentage. For businesses that are incorporated, calculate the company's net worth by adding all business resources such as accounts, cash, inventory, vehicles, buildings, etc. and subtract all business liabilities/debts/expenses. Apply each owner's share of the net worth toward the resource maximum. Note that limited liability companies (LLC) are not incorporated so the resources belong to the company owners.

TRANSMITTAL #35