Unavailable Property

Unavailable property is not included in determining eligibility. Property is considered to be unavailable in the following situations.

Intent to Liquidate or Sell the Property

Property is considered unavailable while the applicant or recipient continues to take all the necessary steps to liquidate or sell the asset. The property is considered unavailable beginning the first day of the month that the person initiates the necessary steps to liquidate or to hold the property for sale and continues until the day that payment is received.

• Intent to liquidate or sell must be continuously demonstrated by:
• Advertising, if appropriate
• Responding to requests for information
• Providing verification
• Listing the asset at fair market value (if sale is required)

No Ownership

Property that does not belong to the individual, is not considered available.

For shared property exclude the portion of the property that can be verified as belong to another individual. This can be verified by:

• Withdrawal and deposit documents from the other individual to the accounts belonging to the applicant/beneficiary, or
• A postmarked envelope with a letter from the other party which discusses the use of the property in question and which corresponds with dates and amounts deposited into the client's account, or
• Copies of paystubs belonging to the other individual which corresponds with dates and deposits into the account of the client.

A "Sworn Statement" alone is not sufficient to establish that an asset does not belong to the individual.

Property of Incompetent, Unconscious, or Comatose Individuals

An individual who is unconscious, comatose, or incompetent is considered unable to access or liquidate their property. However, the Eligibility Worker must still determine property availability. Available property must be added to the property reserve. If the individual does not have anyone else (i.e. family member, authorized representative, etc.) with the legal right, power, and authority to liquidate the property, then the EW must complete a Diligent Search. If the Diligent Search yields no results, then the property is considered unavailable. If the individual does have someone with the legal right, power, and authority to liquidate the property and that person is cooperative in providing the verification, the property is considered available.

Note: A Diligent Search must also be completed if there is someone else who has the legal right, power, and authority to liquidate the property but they are not cooperative.

Below are some scenario examples to show when property of incompetent, unconscious, or comatose individuals will be considered available or unavailable:
Example 1Example 1Don is a comatose individual. An IEVS report shows he has a bank account with Bank of America. He has no family member or representative with legal access to his property. The EW completes the Diligent Search procedures but does not receive a response from the bank within the specified time period. The property is considered unavailable and cannot be added to the property reserve.    

Example 2Example 2Oli is an unconscious individual. Her sister has Power of Attorney (POA) granting her legal access to Oli’s property. The sister is cooperative in providing all property verification. The property is considered available and will be added to the property reserve.     

Example 3Example 3Jerry is an incompetent individual. An IEVS report shows he has a bank account with Wells Fargo. Jerry’s niece has POA and legal access to the property but she has not been cooperative in providing the verification. The EW completes the Diligent Search procedures and receives verification from Wells Fargo of the property. The property is considered available and will be added to the property reserve.     

Related Topics

Availability of Property

Period of Unavailability