16 Del. Admin. Code § 20000-20240
Gross income is counted in the month it is actually received. Each applicant will have $20.00 of his available income disregarded in order to determine his/her eligibility. There is only one $20.00 disregard from total combined income for a couple. An exception is that "need" based payments (such as veteran's pensions) does not get a $20.00 disregard.
It is important to distinguish between "need" based and "non-need" based income. This becomes a consideration with applicants/recipients of Veterans benefits. Disability compensation is a non-need based benefit paid to veterans injured in the Service. VA pensions are generally need based. A veteran receives a need based pension on the basis of other income and/or disability. Need based benefits are not age related. They are strictly a means of bringing a veterans income up to the minimum level set by the Veterans Administration if the veteran has a financial and/or medical need.
For applicants who have earned income the following disregards apply to the monthly gross earned income:
| deduct | $20.00 |
| deduct | $65.00 |
| then | 1/2 of remainder |
Note: The $20.00/month exclusion is applied in the manner that is most advantageous to the individual. If the individual has both earned and unearned income, it is most advantageous to apply the exclusion to the unearned income.
16 Del. Admin. Code § 20000-20240