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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 5

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 89 Chapter 5 Assets

Annuity Example 2: A 60-year-old grandmother, who is the caretaker for her grandchildren, requests to be included in the payment. She purchases a $50,000 annuity to be paid over 25 years. According to Chapter 24, Appendix D, her life expectancy is only 22.86 years. Therefore, the amount that will be paid out by the annuity for 2.14 years is considered an uncompensated transfer of assets that took place at the time the annuity was purchased. 5.7.2.F Transfer Penalty The transfer of assets penalty is ineligibility for a WV WORKS payment. 5.7.2.F.1 Calculating Length of Penalty The penalty period lasts for the number of whole months determined by the following calculation: 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘−𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 100% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐹𝑃𝐿 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐺 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒

When the amount of the transfer is less than the FPL amount, no penalty is applied until a series of transfers totals more than the FPL amount. The penalty runs continuously from the first day of the penalty period, whether or not the client continues to receive benefits. There is no maximum or minimum number of months a penalty may be applied. 5.7.2.F.2 Start of the Penalty The penalty period starts the month in which the asset is transferred, as long as that month does not occur in any other period of ineligibility due to a transfer of assets penalty. If the month the asset is transferred falls into another such penalty period, the penalty period begins the month after the previous penalty period ends. When a single asset is transferred, or a number of assets are transferred at the same time, the penalty period is determined by adding together the total uncompensated value of the asset(s) and dividing as shown below. When resources are transferred at different times, the following general guidelines are used.