Applicants and recipients of cash benefits can have up to $6,000 liquid resources.
Some examples of liquid resources for cash assistance programs are:
- Cash on hand;
- Money in checking and savings accounts;
- Money market accounts or certificates for deposit (CD) less any withdrawal penalty;
- Available retirement funds or pension benefits less any withdrawal penalty;
- Stocks, bonds, annuities, or mutual funds less any early withdrawal penalty;
- Available trusts or trust accounts;
- Lump sum payments.
Some examples of excluded resources for cash assistance programs are:
- Personal property of great sentimental value;
- Bona fide loans, including student loans;
- Benefits from the Basic Food Program;
- Income tax returns or Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for up to twelve months;
- Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC)
- One burial plot for each AU member;
- The income and resources of an SSI recipient; and
- Real property that is:
- Your home and surrounding property;
- Indian lands held jointly with a tribe; and
- Property that you are trying to sell, intend to build a home on, or produces income consistent with it’s fair market value.
- A trust fund when:
- A household member can’t revoke the trust or change the beneficiary;
- The trustee administering the funds isn’t under the direction of a household member or is appointed by the court with court-imposed limitations on the use of the funds;
- The funds are used solely to make investments on behalf of the trust or pay for medical or educational expenses for a specific household member; and
- The investments made on behalf of the trust don’t directly involve or assist any business or corporation under the control, direction, or influence of a household member.
- The applicant/recipient must petition the court to release part or all of a resource, including funds in blocked accounts or trusts. Review the status at each recertification/eligibility review.
- Real Property
- Public rights of way, such as roads that run through the surrounding property and separate it from the home, won’t affect the exemption of the property.
- Definition of a “good faith effort to sell” real property:
- Listing the property with a real estate company;
- Actively showing the property;
- Placing signs on the property and ads in the newspaper; and
- Asking a price that is at or under fair market value (FMV).
Real and Personal Property Used for Self-Employment
- For cash assistance, real and personal property used for self-employment are excluded if:
- The property is necessary to restore the independence or will aid in rehabilitating the applicant/recipient or their dependents; and
- The applicant/recipient has an approved self-employment plan; and
- For WorkFirst participants, the self-employment enterprise is a component of the participant's approved Individual Responsibility Plan (IRP).
- Examples of real or personal property used in a self-employment business include:
- Farm Land;
- Farm Machinery;
- Livestock;
- Business Equipment; and
- Business Inventory.
- For non-WorkFirst participants, an approved self-employment plan must include:
- A time frame that the applicant/recipients business will produce enough income to reduce the assistance unit's need for cash assistance;
- A requirement for the applicant/recipient to give the department adequate verification to verify the business' assets and expenses on a monthly basis. See: Income - C. - Special Income Types; and
- A statement of understanding between the applicant/recipient and the department that the real and personal property of the business will be excluded as long as there is an agreed plan.
Note: If the applicant/recipient doesn’t sign an agreed plan, the value of all real and personal property of the business will count toward the assistance unit's resource limit.