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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 5
West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 16 Chapter 5 Assets
o AND/OR - Joint ownership indicated by “and/or” between the names of the owners. The asset is available to each owner in its entirety. 5.3.5 CONVERSION OR SALE OF AN ASSET Assets may be either liquid or non-liquid. An asset is converted from one form to another by sale or exchange. In addition, assets may be exchanged for assets of the same form. 5.3.5.A General Instructions When assets are converted, the Worker must determine if the result of the conversion is an excluded or non-excluded asset. The result of the sale of an asset is never counted as income or as a lump-sum payment to the client. The only exception is when payment is received in installments, rather than in a lump sum. See Chapter 4. Instead, the new or converted asset must be evaluated as any other asset to determine continuing eligibility. Asset Conversion Example: In July, Miss Redwood becomes disabled and is no longer able to continue the operation of a dress shop in her home. Her home is excluded as homestead property. She applies for SSI-Related Medicaid and becomes eligible in September. Her only assets are those associated with the business (i.e., a cash register, showcases, and mannequins), which were estimated to have a CMV of $1,400 at the time of application. In October, she liquidates these tangible assets and converts them to liquid assets totaling $1,295. The value of the cash is a countable asset, but she is still eligible because it is within the asset limit when considered with other countable assets; it has only changed form, from a non-liquid to a liquid asset. Asset Conversion Example: A WV WORKS client sells a vehicle that is an excluded asset. She receives $1,500 from the sale. She has $700 in other assets, so her assets now total $2,200. She is ineligible for WV WORKS. Even though the vehicle was excluded, the money received in exchange for the vehicle is not excluded and must be counted as an asset. NOTE: For SNAP, see Section 5.6 for bank accounts jointly owned with deployed service persons.