Income and Property Allocations, General

General Allocation Rule

Net nonexempt property and income can only be allocated in one direction.

Property Allocation Rule

The net nonexempt property of a spouse or parent must be equally divided within the MFBU among one’s:

Self
Spouse
Natural/adoptive child(ren)

Note: The allocation is not reduced by the amount of the spouse’s or child’s own property.

Income Allocation Rule

The net nonexempt income of a spouse or parent (less a $600 income deduction for his/her needs) must be equally divided within the MFBU among one’s:

Spouse
Natural/adoptive child(ren)

Note: The income allocation from a parent to themselves was eliminated by the Gamma v Belshe court decision in 11/95. (Each parent is allowed a $600.00 income deduction for his/her needs prior to equally allocating income to their spouse and/or children.)

Property and Income

Eligible, ineligible, and excluded family members receive an equal allocation of property/income.

Allocations Not Allowed

The following rules explain when property and income allocations cannot be allowed.

A child’s own separate property/income cannot be allocated to his/her parent(s) or siblings.
If parents are unmarried, they cannot allocate property/income to each other.
There is never an allocation from anyone other than a spouse or a natural/adoptive parent. Example Example A non-parent caretaker relative is in the MFBU. If Sneede applies, the caretaker relative’s property/income is never allocated to the child(ren), as s/he is not financially responsible for them.
Never allocate to an unborn.
A parent may not allocate income to him/herself as revised by Gamma v. Belshe in 11/95, but is allowed a $600 income deduction for his/her needs prior to equally allocating income to his/her spouse and/or child(ren).

Allocation Example

An MFBU of 5 with a share of cost includes the following persons:

Father, mother, their mutual child, their unborn, and mother’s separate child.

Parent/Spouse	Father	Mother
Others for Whom Each Parent / Spouse is Responsible	Spouse (Mom)	Spouse (Dad)
	Mutual Child	Mutual Child
	2 persons	Separate Child 3 persons

Father’s income (less a $600 income deduction for his needs) is divided by 2, and equally allocated to mother, and their mutual child.
Mother’s income (less a $600 income deduction for her needs) is divided by 3 and equally allocated to her husband, their mutual child, and to her separate child.
The unborn does not receive an allocation from either parent. However, the unborn will later be included in the Mini Budget Unit which includes the mother.

Property/Income are Separate

Sneede property and income allocations are independent of each other.

Apply property allocation rules only when the MFBU has excess property.
Apply income allocation rules only when an MFBU has a share of cost.
Do not apply allocations to both property and income unless the MFBU first has excess property, and then has a share of cost.

Treatment of Children

The following chart summarizes the treatment of children in a Sneede case.

Sneede Children	Receive Income/Property Allocation from Parent(s)	Included in Maintenance Need and Property Limit	Link Other Family Members in MFBU
Unborns	No	*Yes, include in mother’s MBU	Yes
Eligible Children	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ineligible Children	Yes	Yes, if in the same MBU	No
Excluded Children	Yes	No	No

*An unborn may be included in its father’s MFBU/MBU if the mother is PA/Other PA; for example, she is receiving AFDC or SSI.