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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 5

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 81 Chapter 5 Assets

When all of these conditions are met, burial funds are excluded in their entirety for the client and/or his spouse. The exclusion is determined by the following method, with irrevocable burial funds being used for the exclusion before any other funds. • Step 1: $3,000 Maximum Burial Exclusion • Step 2: Subtract irrevocable burial trusts, irrevocable burial contracts, or any other irrevocable burial agreements. • Step 3: Subtract face value of all life insurance policies whether or not these policies are also counted as assets. • Step 4: Subtract revocable burial trusts and any other revocable burial agreements; money set aside for burial (maximum of $1,500, not comingled with other funds). • Step 5: This is the remaining amount of other assets that may be excluded for burial. Burial Fund Example 1: An unmarried man applies for Medicaid. He has $1,800 set aside for burial and he has just established an irrevocable pre-need burial trust, in the amount of $2,000. This totals $3,800 in burial funds. Because he cannot access any of the money in the pre-need burial trust, it is excluded first as part of the $3,000 burial exclusion. Of the $1,800 in funds set aside for burial, only $1,000 is excluded. The remaining $800 is counted as an asset and must be removed from the account so that it is not comingled with the burial fund. Step 1: $3,000 Maximum burial exclusion Step 2: -2,000 Irrevocable burial fund exclusion

$1,000 Remaining burial exclusion Step 3: - 0 Face value of all life insurance

$1,000 Step 4: - 1,800 Money set aside for burial

-$800 Counted as asset, must not be co-mingled