Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A.
Real property:
(1)
The
home: The value of the benefit group's home is not considered in
determining eligibility. The "home" is the dwelling place occupied by the
benefit group. The home is considered to be occupied by the benefit group
during a temporary absence, when there is a definite plan to return to the home
and no one else is occupying it.
(2) "Home" includes, in addition to the
residence building and the land upon which it is constructed, the following:
(a) a reasonable amount of land within
reasonable proximity to the residence building, if that land is currently used
by and useful to the client;
(b)
outbuildings within reasonable proximity to the residence building, such as
barn, garage and well, if the well is a principal source of water;
(c) buildings used for rental purposes, if
located on land contiguous to the land upon which the residence building is
constructed, and if these buildings cannot be divided from the residence land
and sold separately;
(d) grazing
permits currently being used to graze livestock owned by the client;
and
(e) furniture, equipment and
household goods necessary for the operation and maintenance of the
home.
(3)
Other
real property - burial plots: One burial plot for each person included
in the benefit group shall be excluded; a burial plot shall consist of the
space needed to bury a member of the immediate family.
B.
Exempt personal property:
The value of the following items of personal property shall not be considered
in determining eligibility for GA cash assistance:
(1)
Vehicles: all vehicles used
by the benefit group for transporting individuals to or from employment, for
daily living activities, or for the transportation of goods shall be excluded
from consideration as a resource subject to the non-liquid resource limit;
recreational vehicles, such as boats or motor homes, shall not be
excluded;
(2)
Specially-equipped vehicles: a vehicle owned by the benefit group that
is specially equipped for the handicapped shall not be considered in the
determination of the liquid or non-liquid resource limit.
C.
Exempt income: Any income
that is exempt under income provisions is also exempt from consideration as a
resource. To maintain its exempt status, exempt income that is accumulated must
be kept separate from non-exempt savings.
D.
Individual development account
(IDA): Subject to the limitations set forth below, funds in an IDA are
exempt from consideration as resources in determining benefit group
eligibility. To be exempt from consideration, the IDA must be designated for a
qualified purpose.
(1)
Post-secondary
education of a dependent child included in the benefit group: In order
to be considered used for a qualified purpose, the post-secondary education
funds must be paid from an IDA directly to an eligible education institution.
For purposes of this regulation, post-secondary education expenses include:
(a) tuition and fees required for the
enrollment or attendance of a student at an eligible education institution. An
eligible institution is an institution described in section 481(a)(1) or
1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (
20
USC 1088(a)(1) or
1141(a)
); an area vocational education school (as defined in section 521(4) of the
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act ( 20 U.S.C.
2471(4)) located in any state; or
(b) books, fees, supplies and equipment
required for courses of instruction at an eligible educational
institution.
(2)
Purchase of a principal residence for a first-time home buyer: The
purpose of the IDA is to assist a qualified first-time home buyer to accumulate
part of the cash necessary to initiate purchase of the individual's first home.
(a) Only IDA's established by qualified
first-time home buyers shall be disregarded; a qualified first-time home buyer
is one who has never had an ownership interest in a principal
residence.
(b) The IDA may be used
only for the purchase of a qualified principal residence; a qualified principal
residence is one which qualifies as the principal home under subsection 1034
the federal internal revenue code, if the costs for which do not exceed 100% of
the average area purchase price applicable to such residence, determined in
accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 143(e) of the internal
revenue code.
(c) No more than
$1,500 may be accumulated in an IDA for first-time home purchase. Any amount in
excess of $1,500 is considered in determining whether the benefit group meets
the cash resource limit.
(3)
Business capitalization: In
order to be considered used for a qualified purpose, the funds have to be paid
directly from the IDA to a business capitalization account established in a
federally insured financial institution that is restricted to use solely for
qualified business capitalization expenses. A qualified business means any
business that does not contravene any law or public policy. Qualified business
capitalization expenses include capital, plant, equipment, working capital and
inventory expenses. To be a qualified business, there must be a business plan
which:
(a) is approved by a financial
institution or a nonprofit loan fund having demonstrated fiduciary
integrity;
(b) includes a
description of services or goods to be sold, a marketing plan and projected
financial statements; and
(c) may
require the eligible individual to obtain the assistance of an experienced
entrepreneurial advisor.
(4) To be disregarded, the IDA must meet the
following requirements:
(a) the benefit group
member must first establish and maintain a savings account with a balance of
$1,500;
(b) the benefit group
member must establish the IDA for one of the three purposes described
above.
(c) in order for such
accounts to be excludable, the IDA must be a trust created or organized in the
United States, with trust language restricting use of account funds to the
purposes as designated in this section; and
(d) the IDA must be funded exclusively with
income earned by a benefit group member or by contributions made by a
non-benefit group member.
(5) Funds withdrawn from the account and used
for any purpose other than those specified under this section will cause the
account to lose its status as an excluded resource, starting with the month in
which the funds are withdrawn from the IDA account.
E.
Funeral agreements: The
equity value of funeral agreements owned by a benefit group member shall be
excluded from consideration as a resource. Funeral agreements include any
arrangement under which prepaid funeral services are provided or cash benefits
that are intended to pay for funeral services are paid upon the individual's
death. Such agreements include contracts with funeral homes, life or burial
insurance, and trust or escrow accounts in financial institutions or banks,
provided that the trust or escrow accounts contain provisions making the funds
payable only upon the death of a named individual. There is no limit on the
amount of the funeral agreement that can be disregarded.
F.
Contingent or unliquidated
claims: A "contingent or unliquidated claim" is an undetermined right of
an individual to receive, at some future time, a resource such as an interest
in an unprobated estate or damages or compensation resulting from an accident
or injury. Such a claim is not considered a resource if the individual (either
applicant or recipient) can demonstrate that an attorney has been consulted, or
that under the circumstances, it is reasonable not to have consulted an
attorney, and that the individual is making every reasonable effort to
prosecute the claim or to proceed with the probate. If the individual can
demonstrate that his or her share in an unprobated estate would be less than
the expense of the proceedings to probate the estate, the value is not
considered a resource.
G.
Work-related equipment exclusion: Work-related equipment, such as the
tools of a trades person or the machinery of a farmer, which are essential to
the employment or self-employment of a benefit group member, are excluded, in
an amount not to exceed $1,000 per individual, and remain excludable if the
trades person becomes disabled. Farm machinery retains this exclusion for one
year if the farmer ends self-employment.
H.
Livestock: The value of
livestock is an excluded non-liquid resource.
I.
Federally excluded
resources: Certain resources are excluded pursuant to federal law. For a
listing of federally-excluded resources, see 8.139.527 NMAC.
