Asset Availability 400-19-55-05-10

(Revised 6/1/10 ML #3218)

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(N.D.A.C. 75-02-01.2-21)

 

Assets must be available to the TANF household for current use. To be considered an asset, an interest in property (real or personal) must be owned by the individual and available for disposition. In general, an individual who has legal title to property has the right to control and dispose of it. If property cannot be disposed of, it is not an available asset.

 

All assets owned by any SSI recipient shall be exempt in determining TANF eligibility. An asset owned solely or jointly with an SSI recipient is exempt.

 

All assets owned individually or jointly are presumed available to the household.

1. Assets owned jointly by members of separate households, where there is a legal obligation to support, are also presumed available, in their entirety, to the TANF household.
2. Real property owned jointly by members of separate households, where there is no legal obligation to support must have the equity value equally divided among all property owners. The applicant/recipient’s share is considered when determining eligibility.  However, if the applicant or recipient can show that the assets are in fact not available, those assets may be exempt. If the applicant or recipient can demonstrate that it has access to only a portion of a given asset, only that portion will be considered.

 

An asset shall be considered not available if it cannot be practically subdivided and/or the household's access to the asset is dependent on the agreement and cooperation of a joint owner who refuses and cannot reasonably be forced to comply (e.g. motor vehicle).  

 

Liquid (e.g. bank accounts, certificates of deposits, etc.) and non-liquid (e.g. real or personal property, etc.) assets owned solely or jointly but which can be made available to the applicant or recipient, are considered in their entirety.

 

An individual identified on an account signature card as an individual who can draw on the account of a non-household member has no legal ownership of the funds in the account. Thus, the funds are not considered available and are exempt as an asset.

 

A checking or savings account is sometimes opened jointly in the names of a non-household member and the applicant or recipient of TANF. Such accounts are established for the convenience of the parties involved. However, the TANF applicant or recipient may not have contributed to the account and may or may not have knowledge of its existence. Regardless of the source of the funds, whenever the applicant or recipient is a joint account holder and can legally withdraw funds from that account, the individual is presumed to have unrestricted access to the funds. As such, the individual is deemed to be the sole owner of those funds.

 

If it is clearly established that, despite having access to the account, the household has neither contributed to nor withdrawn funds from the account, the applicant or recipient should be given the opportunity to have their name removed from the account or, by other action, preclude all access to the funds.  

• If the household is in the process of applying for TANF, such action must be taken before the initial benefit is authorized.   
• If the household is already receiving TANF, the action must be completed within 30 days of notification by the TANF Eligibility Worker.

 

In both situations, failure to do so will result in consideration of the asset when determining eligibility for TANF.

 

An asset may be temporarily unavailable (exempt) while the family is taking reasonable measures to overcome a legal impediment. Examples of a legal impediment are divorce proceedings that will eventually result in the distribution individually of jointly owned property and the refusal of other owner(s) to agree to the sale of jointly held assets. A jointly owned vehicle that is taken by a deserting parent may not be a "currently available" asset but may later become available when the legal impediment is overcome. On rare occasions, the process of liquidating an asset, even though technically "available" to the family, would be unreasonable to pursue, particularly if costly litigation is required. Such assets, on a carefully evaluated case-by-case basis, can be disregarded.

 

The question of availability is particularly critical to individuals being served by shelters for abused women and children. Assets, regardless of ownership rights, may have to be at least temporarily considered inaccessible until such time as the legal and social ramifications can be resolved. Staff are urged not to apply the "availability" concept so stringently as to risk worsening an already tense situation.

 

As in all instances in which there is a question of ownership, the household should be given the opportunity to present evidence in rebuttal of the presumption that a joint account is an available asset. A successful rebuttal will result in a finding that the funds in the joint account are in fact not owned by the TANF household. For example, when the funds are clearly available to the TANF household only in the event of the co-owner's death, access is restricted and the funds are therefore not an asset. The funds are likewise not an asset to the TANF household if withdrawals from the account are possible only with the surrendering of the passbook, which is not accessible to the applicant or recipient, or with dual signatures and the co-owner will not sign.

 

Staff must be alert to interruptions in eligibility resulting from changes in assets (e.g., conversion from one form of asset to cash or an increase in the value of an asset). Applicants and recipients should understand that they are required to report such changes. Although eligibility normally does not exist during any month in which the equity limitation on assets is exceeded, funds from the sale of an exempt asset or from a property insurance settlement can be temporarily reserved for the replacement or repair of an essential item such as a house, car, furniture, or appliance. In this instance, the household should indicate immediately that it intends to replace or repair a given item and should be given 30 days to complete the repair or replacement of the exempt asset. The repair or replacement of a house may take considerably longer. This time can be extended as appropriate or for extenuating circumstances.

 

Assets, once determined available for current use, must be reasonably evaluated in accordance with their equity value (fair market value minus legal debts). A reasonable evaluation of an asset is an amount that a willing buyer would pay. In some instances, the asking price of an asset may need to be lowered, perhaps more than once, until such time as there is a market.

 

Proceeds from the sale of an asset continue to be an asset subject to the appropriate asset level.

 

Neither the household’s TANF benefit, nor the income (earned and unearned), taken into account in determining the benefit for a particular month is to be considered part of the asset test for that same month.