Section 704.135 - Transfers of Income and/or Assets(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).
(B)Transfers for Fair Market Value or More. (1) If, within 12 months before applying for Transitional Cash Assistance, a member of the filing unit transfers income, or asset if the application is for EAEDC as a resident in a licensed rest home, for fair market value or greater value and the transfer was for an extraordinary expense or a vacation, it will be presumed the transfer was made to receive Transitional Cash Assistance. The presumption that the income or asset was transferred for the purpose of becoming eligible for Transitional Cash Assistance may be rebutted as provided in 106 CMR 704.135(A)(2). If the presumption is not rebutted, the filing unit will be ineligible for TAFDC for the period of time calculated in accordance with 106 CMR 704.135(D). An item is considered an extraordinary expense if:
(a) the expense is not normally incurred by the filing unit; and(b) the expense is more than 25 of the filing unit's average monthly gross income, excluding the receipt of any non-recurring lump sum income, for the six months immediately before the date of the transfer.(2) An item is not considered an extraordinary expense if it is:(a) for a day-to-day expense as defined in 106 CMR 704.240(B)(4)(a)-(f);(b) necessary for work, employment, education or job training; or(c) used to buy a prepaid funeral arrangement, and one burial plot for each member of the assistance unit. A prepaid funeral arrangement may include a contract with a funeral director or a separately identifiable trust fund.(3) Other than as provided in 106 CMR 704.135(B)(1), a transfer of income or assets for its fair market or greater value will not be considered a transfer for the purpose of becoming eligible for Transitional Cash Assistance as long as the transfer is not prohibited by law.(C)Value of Transferred Income and/or Asset(s). If the income, or asset if the application is for EAEDC as a resident in a licensed rest home, is considered to have been transferred to become eligible for Transitional Cash Assistance, the value is determined as follows:(1) Use the fair market value of the transferred income or asset as of the date of transfer.(2) Deduct from the fair market value:(a) any legal encumbrances to the transferred income or asset which were paid on or after the date of transfer; and(b) any compensation received in excess of the paid legal encumbrances. Compensation may be in the form of money, goods or services. The value of goods and services received as compensation is valued at fair market value as of the date services were received. Compensation does not include the value of extraordinary expenses as defined in 106 CMR 704.135(B)(1) or a vacation or any compensation received in a transfer prohibited by law.(3) The remainder is the value of the transferred income or asset.(D)Calculation of Period of Ineligibility. Depending upon the value of the transferred income, or asset if the application is for EAEDC as a resident of a licensed rest home, all members will be subject to an uninterrupted ineligibility period. The calculation for the period of ineligibility period is as follows: (1) Divide the value of the transferred income or asset, as determined in 106 CMR 704.135(C), by the appropriate Payment Standard for the TAFDC assistance unit or the appropriate standard of assistance for the EAEDC assistance unit. The result will be the number of months in the period of ineligibility.(2) Any remainder from the above calculation shall be considered unearned income in the first month following the period of ineligibility and deducted from the appropriate Payment Standard for the TAFDC assistance unit or the appropriate standard of assistance for the EAEDC assistance unit, provided there is a reapplication for assistance during that month.(3) The period of ineligibility shall begin on the first day of any transfer, in whole or in part, of income or assets within 12 months of application. Any assistance received during the ineligibility period is considered an overpayment in accordance with 106 CMR 706.200, et seq.(E)Ineligibility for Transitional Cash Assistance. Any member of the filing unit who is determined to be ineligible for EAEDC due to the transfer of income or assets is concurrently ineligible for TAFDC. Conversely, any member of the filing unit who is determined to be ineligible for TAFDC due to the transfer of income or assets is concurrently ineligible for EAEDC.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1461, eff. 1/4/2022.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1465, eff. 1/4/2022.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1521, eff. 5/10/2024.