Table of Contents
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A.
Overview
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This section provides: · Clarification of ownership and
availability of property · Defines property held in trust · Reviews ownership and availability
determination · Explains some of the affects of
transfers of property held in trust on Medi-Cal eligibility |
C.
Contracts
of Sale
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Property being purchased/sold by the applicant/beneficiary
under a signed contract of sale will be treated as follows:
NOTE: Property being purchased or sold under a verbal
or unsigned contract of sale is considered the property of the seller
until the sale is final. |
MEM 50453 |
D.
Bank
Accounts Held with Family Members
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The entire amount in accounts held jointly with family
members is considered owned by the applicant/beneficiary. Family members are
the following persons living in the home: · A child or
sibling children according to MPG 1.1; and · Parents
(married or unmarried) of sibling children; and · Separate
children of either parent or of the stepparent; and · Spouse. |
MEM 50041 50453 |
E.
Bank
Accounts Held with Non-Family Members
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Accounts held jointly with non-family members are generally
considered to be owned by the applicant/beneficiary if the
applicant/beneficiary has unrestricted access to the account, that is, the
applicant/beneficiary can withdraw with his/her signature alone. The
exception is when the applicant/beneficiary presents evidence which clearly
establishes that all or a portion of the funds in the account belong to the
non-family members. If so, only that portion of the funds which belong to the
applicant/beneficiary and/or family members considered owned by the
applicant/ beneficiary. In this instance it is assumed that a proportion
equal to the number of owners belongs to each owner (e.g., four owners, each
is presumed to own one fourth of the property) unless evidence establishes
otherwise. |
DHS Clarificat-ion |
F.
Single
Name Bank Accounts
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Accounts held solely in the name of the
applicant/beneficiary are considered owned by the applicant/beneficiary. If
the account is held solely in the name of the applicant/beneficiary's spouse,
and the account is considered community property according to MPG Article 9,
Section 3, each spouse is considered to own one-half of the account. |
MEM 50072 50076 50453 |
G.
Bank
Account Examples
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H.
Leased
Property
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An applicant/beneficiary has no ownership interest in
leased property, unless otherwise stated in the lease agreement. An option to
purchase at the conclusion of the termination of the lease is not considered
an ownership interest. |
I.
Life
Insurance Policies
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In general, the individual who contracted for the policy is
the owner of the policy. The owner may or may not be the insured person or
the beneficiary. If ownership is questionable, the policy should be viewed
for clarification. |
A.
Overview
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Only property which is available to the
applicant/beneficiary is to be considered in the eligibility determination.
Some property owned by the applicant/beneficiary may be considered
unavailable, and therefore exempt for either a temporary or indefinite period
of time. Each section in the property article identifies the conditions the
property must meet during this exempt period. Once the conditions are no
longer met, the property loses its exempt status. |
B.
Applicant or
Beneficiary is Incompetent
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Property is considered unavailable if the
applicant/beneficiary meets all of the following criteria: · is mentally incompetent · there is no spouse or conservator of
the estate · the person acting on the
applicant/beneficiary’s behalf (key person) does not have the right, power,
and authority to access the property |
C.
Public
Guardian Referrals
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If
there is no relative or friend willing and able to seek conservatorship, the
worker must make a referral to the Public Guardian’s Office. Referrals
to the Public Guardians office must be completed as follows:
NOTE:
The property remains unavailable pending appointment of a conservator
of the estate, guardian, or other change in circumstances which would enable
the owner, or someone acting on his/her behalf, to access the property. MPG
Letter 790 (05/13) |
D.
Accumulated
SSI Overpayment
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SSI overpayments may result for any of the following
reasons: · SSI discontinuance · SSI beneficiary entering a skilled
nursing or intermediate care facility This must be verified by viewing a SSA notice
discontinuing SSI, or by verifying that SSA has been notified the applicant
is now residing in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility. The funds resulting from verified SSI overpayments and
in a bank account, or as uncashed check(s) are considered unavailable
property. The amount of the SSI
overpayment can be determined by: · Multiplying the monthly SSI award by
the number of months since the date of discontinuance stated on the SSI
discontinuance notice, or; · Multiplying the monthly award by the
number of months that a long term care person has been institutionalized. |
ACWDL 89-39 |
E.
Unavailable
Property
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Property will be considered unavailable if there is good
faith intent to liquidate the property. A good faith intent is demonstrated
when the person holds the property for sale by taking all necessary steps. If
the applicant discontinues her good faith intent to liquidate the property,
the property will be considered available. |
F.
Unavailable
Other Real Property
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Other real property will be considered unavailable
beginning the first day of the month in which a good faith intent to sell is
started. Necessary steps include:
NOTE: The client will be
responsible for providing verification of the above steps every six months. |
A.
Overview
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There are several situations that may cause the cash
surrender value of pension funds and annuities to be considered unavailable. This section will clarify the criteria the
cash surrender value of a pension funds or annuity must meet in order to be
unavailable. NOTE: If the
applicant/beneficiary elects to defer payments from any or all of these funds
mentioned in this section, then the cash surrender value shall be considered
available and should be included in the property reserve. |
B.
Minimum Mandatory Distributions
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The cash surrender value of pension funds and annuities is
to be considered unavailable if
the
applicant/beneficiary, who is 70 and one half years of age or older, is
receiving minimum mandatory distributions from his or her total fund. Once a person reaches 70 and one half years
of age, any payment received from a fund meets the requirements and renders
the balance of that retirement fund unavailable. Exception: New Roth IRA’s, an individual who has
reached 70 and one half years of age must begin to withdraw the minimum
mandatory distribution from his/her IRA/Keogh, and he/she must comply with
federal law regarding those withdrawals. NOTE: Verification of principal/interest combination is not
required after the individual reaches 70 and one half years of age. |
C.
Release
Request
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The cash surrender value of pension funds and annuities is
to be considered unavailable if
the
applicant/beneficiary, has requested release of the funds either in the form
of payments or a lump sum. The balance of the fund is considered unavailable from the
first of the month that a request for release of funds is made, until the
funds are received. NOTE: The balance of the
funds in the account(s) will be considered unavailable even if payment has
not yet been received as long as the applicant/beneficiary continues to make
a good faith effort to receive payment(s) and continues to provide
verification of those efforts. Example of good faith effort: Applicant/beneficiary sends a letter to the employer/fund
holder in order to request release of the funds or to request payments from
the fund. Thirty days pass with no response to the request and the applicant/beneficiary
submits another written request. Acceptable verification can include: · Copies of
correspondence with the employer or fund holder regarding the
applicant/beneficiary’s request for release of the funds. · Documentation
that the applicant/beneficiary is taking all necessary steps in a timely
manner to obtain payment(s) from the fund. · Narrative
documenting contact with the employer/fund holder by the worker (a release of
information is required from the applicant/beneficiary). |
D.
Periodic
Payments
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Once periodic payments from each fund, systematic
withdrawals from each fund, or minimum mandatory distributions from their
total retirement funds are established, the total balance of all the
individual's IRA's/Keogh's/work-related pension funds are then considered
unavailable. The periodic payments received will be considered income. Verification
of unavailability must be scanned. No further action is needed until the applicant/beneficiary
reaches age 55 or terminates employment at which time these funds may become
available for early withdrawal. The applicant/beneficiary must be asked to request access
to the funds. As a result of asking for release of these funds, the following
situations may occur and should be treated as stated below.
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E.
Cash
Lump Sum Payment
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If a cash lump sum is received, it
will be considered converted property and must be counted in the property
reserve. |
F.
Joint
Pension Funds and Annuities
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The cash surrender value of pension funds and annuities is
to be considered unavailable if the funds are
jointly held with a third party and/or an employer and that party refuses to
grant access to the funds. (See Article 9, Sec. 6) |
G.
Property
Held in the
Name of the Applicant or Beneficiary
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If evidence clearly establishes that property held in the
name of an applicant/ beneficiary belongs to a person who is not in the MFBU,
the property will be considered to be unavailable to the
applicant/beneficiary. This includes property that is shared with another
person. Evidence may include: · A
postmarked letter from the non-MFBU member discussing the property in
question and providing instructions as to its use. · Copies of
pay stubs belonging to the non-MFBU member and corresponding deposits into
the account of the client. · Corresponding
deposits and withdrawals from the non-MFBU member's accounts to the account
belonging to the client · Evidence
cannot only be a statement from the client. |
H.
Access
to Funds
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The cash surrender value of pension
funds and annuities is to be considered unavailable if individual must terminate employment
to access the funds. |