42 U.S.C. § 1382b - Resources

• Cite as: 42 U.S.C. § 1382b

(a) Exclusions from resources

In determining the resources of an individual (and his eligible spouse, if any) there shall be excluded-

(1) the home (including the land that appertains thereto);

(2)

(A) household goods, personal effects, and an automobile, to the extent that their total value does not exceed such amount as the Commissioner of Social Security determines to be reasonable; and

(B) the value of any burial space or agreement (including any interest accumulated thereon) representing the purchase of a burial space (subject to such limits as to size or value as the Commissioner of Social Security may by regulation prescribe) held for the purpose of providing a place for the burial of the individual, his spouse, or any other member of his immediate family;

(3) other property which is so essential to the means of self-support of such individual (and such spouse) as to warrant its exclusion, as determined in accordance with and subject to limitations prescribed by the Commissioner of Social Security, except that the Commissioner of Social Security shall not establish a limitation on property (including the tools of a tradesperson and the machinery and livestock of a farmer) that is used in a trade or business or by such individual as an employee;

(4) such resources of an individual who is blind or disabled and who has a plan for achieving self-support approved by the Commissioner of Social Security, as may be necessary for the fulfillment of such plan;

(5) in the case of Natives of Alaska, shares of stock held in a Regional or a Village Corporation, during the period of twenty years in which such stock is inalienable, as provided in section 1606(h) and section 1607(c) of title 43;

(6) assistance referred to in section 1382a(b)(11) of this title for the 9-month period beginning on the date such funds are received (or for such longer period as the Commissioner of Social Security shall by regulations prescribe in cases where good cause is shown by the individual concerned for extending such period); and, for purposes of this paragraph, the term "assistance" includes interest thereon which is excluded from income under section 1382a(b)(12) of this title;

(7) any amount received from the United States which is attributable to underpayments of benefits due for one or more prior months, under this subchapter or subchapter II, to such individual (or spouse) or to any other person whose income is deemed to be included in such individual's (or spouse's) income for purposes of this subchapter; but the application of this paragraph in the case of any such individual (and eligible spouse if any), with respect to any amount so received from the United States, shall be limited to the first 9 months following the month in which such amount is received, and written notice of this limitation shall be given to the recipient concurrently with the payment of such amount;

(8) the value of assistance referred to in section 1382a(b)(14) of this title, paid with respect to the dwelling unit occupied by such individual (or such individual and spouse);

(9) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in which received, any amount received by such individual (or such spouse) from a fund established by a State to aid victims of crime, to the extent that such individual (or such spouse) demonstrates that such amount was paid as compensation for expenses incurred or losses suffered as a result of a crime;

(10) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in which received, relocation assistance provided by a State or local government to such individual (or such spouse), comparable to assistance provided under title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisitions ¹ Policies Act of 1970 which is subject to the treatment required by section 216 of such Act [ 42 U.S.C. 4636 ];

(11) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in which received-

(A) notwithstanding section 203 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, any refund of Federal income taxes made to such individual (or such spouse) under section 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to child tax credit) by reason of subsection (d) thereof; and

(B) any refund of Federal income taxes made to such individual (or such spouse) by reason of section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to earned income tax credit), and any payment made to such individual (or such spouse) by an employer under section 3507 of such Code (relating to advance payment of earned income credit);

(12) any account, including accrued interest or other earnings thereon, established and maintained in accordance with section 1383(a)(2)(F) of this title;

(13) any gift to, or for the benefit of, an individual who has not attained 18 years of age and who has a life-threatening condition, from an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code-

(A) in the case of an in-kind gift, if the gift is not converted to cash; or

(B) in the case of a cash gift, only to the extent that the total amount excluded from the resources of the individual pursuant to this paragraph in the calendar year in which the gift is made does not exceed $2,000;

(14) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in which received, any amount received by such individual (or spouse) or any other person whose income is deemed to be included in such individual's (or spouse's) income for purposes of this subchapter as restitution for benefits under this subchapter, subchapter II, or subchapter VIII that a representative payee of such individual (or spouse) or such other person under section 405(j), 1007, or 1383(a)(2) of this title has misused;

(15) for the 9-month period beginning after the month in which received, any grant, scholarship, fellowship, or gift (or portion of a gift) used to pay the cost of tuition and fees at any educational (including technical or vocational education) institution;

(16) for the month of receipt and every month thereafter, any annuity paid by a State to the individual (or such spouse) on the basis of the individual's being a veteran (as defined in section 101 of title 38), and blind, disabled, or aged; and

(17) any amount received by such individual (or such spouse) which is excluded from income under section 1382a(b)(26) of this title (relating to compensation for participation in a clinical trial involving research and testing of treatments for a rare disease or condition).

In determining the resources of an individual (or eligible spouse) an insurance policy shall be taken into account only to the extent of its cash surrender value; except that if the total face value of all life insurance policies on any person is $1,500 or less, no part of the value of any such policy shall be taken into account.

(b) Disposition of resources; grounds for exemption from disposition requirements

(1) The Commissioner of Social Security shall prescribe the period or periods of time within which, and the manner in which, various kinds of property must be disposed of in order not to be included in determining an individual's eligibility for benefits. Any portion of the individual's benefits paid for any such period shall be conditioned upon such disposal; and any benefits so paid shall (at the time of the disposal) be considered overpayments to the extent they would not have been paid had the disposal occurred at the beginning of the period for which such benefits were paid.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the Commissioner of Social Security shall not require the disposition of any real property for so long as it cannot be sold because (A) it is jointly owned (and its sale would cause undue hardship, due to loss of housing, for the other owner or owners), (B) its sale is barred by a legal impediment, or (C) as determined under regulations issued by the Commissioner of Social Security, the owner's reasonable efforts to sell it have been unsuccessful.