Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 106 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE › Title 106 CMR 704.000 - Transitional Cash Assistance Program: Financial Eligibility › Section 704.135 - Transfers of Income and/or Assets

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(A)
Transfers for Less Than Fair Market Value
.
(1) If, within 12 months before applying for
			 Transitional Cash Assistance, a member of the filing unit transfers any income,
			 or an asset when the application is for EAEDC as a resident in a licensed rest
			 home, in whole or in part for less than its fair market value or places the
			 income or an asset into an irrevocable trust, it is presumed that the transfer
			 was made to become eligible for Transitional Cash Assistance, unless the
			 presumption is rebutted in accordance with
			 106
			 CMR 704.135(A)(2). If the
			 presumption is not rebutted, or if the transfer is prohibited by law, the
			 filing unit will be ineligible for Transitional Cash Assistance for the period
			 of time calculated in accordance with
			 106
			 CMR 704.135(C) and
			 (D).
(2) The presumption that a transfer for less
			 than its fair market value or placement into an irrevocable trust was made to
			 receive Transitional Cash Assistance, may be rebutted if the applicant
			 establishes one of the following:
(b) At the
			 time of the transfer, the filing unit member had enough other income and/or
			 assets to pay for 12 months of his or her day-to-day living and medical
			 expenses as defined in
			 106
			 CMR 704.135(A)(2)(c) as well
			 as those individuals that the filing unit member was legally obligated to
			 support. This determination is based on the filing unit's average monthly
			 expenses for the six months immediately prior to the date of the
			 transfer;
(c) The transfer of the
			 income or assets was for self-support because the filing unit member's income
			 and assets at the time of the transfer did not meet the filing unit member's
			 day-to-day living and medical expenses. Day-to-day living expenses are limited
			 to expenses for shelter, fuel, utilities, and food and cannot exceed the
			 greater of what the filing unit member was paying for those expenses prior to
			 the date the income and/or assets and was transferred or the payment standard
			 provided in
			 106
			 CMR 704.420 or
			 106
			 CMR 704.425 for the assistance unit. Medical
			 expenses are limited to health insurance premiums or health care treatment or
			 services essential for the treatment of members of the filing unit not covered
			 by any health insurance or MassHealth, and not incurred as the result of
			 cosmetic surgery unrelated to illness, accident or surgery. Expenditures which
			 would not be essential health care treatment include, but are not limited to,
			 those for vacations or recreational activities;
(d) The transfer of the income or asset was
			 made while the filing unit member was legally incompetent or as a result of
			 undue coercion. The applicant must demonstrate that every effort has been made
			 to recover the property by court action or by other such procedures as
			 indicated by the circumstances; or
(e) The transfer of the income or asset was
			 the result of a legal action such as a court order, judgment, foreclosure, or
			 delinquent tax sale.
The applicant must verify that the transfer of income or asset
				was done exclusively for a purpose other than becoming eligible for
				Transitional Cash Assistance. A subjective statement of intent or of ignorance
				of the transfer rules is not sufficient. The applicant must give objective
				evidence of one or more of the factors provided in
				106
				CMR
				704.135(A)(2).