Section 17-675-30 - Special provision for the food stamp program - inaccessible assets(a) If the cash value of an asset is not accessible to the household, including, but not limited to, irrevocable trust funds, security deposits on rental property or utilities, property in probate, and real property which the household is making a good faith effort to sell at a reasonable price, then the personal or real property shall be exempted as an asset. The branch shall verify that the property is for sale and the household has not declined a reasonable offer. Verification shall be obtained through a collateral contact or documentation, such as an advertisement for public sale in a newspaper of general circulation or a listing with a real estate broker.(b) Any funds in a trust or funds transferred to a trust, and the income produced by that trust to the extent it is not available to the household shall be considered inaccessible to the household if:(1) The trust arrangement is not likely to cease during the certification period and no household member has the power to revoke the trust arrangement or change the name of the beneficiary during the certification period;(2) The trustee administering the funds is either a court or an institution, corporation, or organization, not under the direction or ownership of any household member, or an individual appointed by the court who has court imposed limitations placed on the individual's use of the funds which meet the requirement of this paragraph;(3) The trust investments made on behalf of the trust do not directly involve or assist any business or corporation under the control, direction, or influence of a household member; and(4) The funds held in irrevocable trust are either:(A) Established from a household's own funds, if the trustee uses the funds solely to make investments on behalf of the trust or to pay the educational or medical expenses of any person named by the household creating the trust; or (B) Established from nonhousehold funds by a nonhousehold member.(c) Assets shall be considered inaccessible to persons residing in shelters for battered women and children if: (1) The assets are jointly owned by such persons and by members of their former household;(2) The shelter resident's access to the value of the assets is dependent on the agreement of a joint owner who still resides in the former household.(d) An asset shall also be considered inaccessible if the household is unable to sell the asset for any significant return to the household because the household's interest is relatively slight or because the costs of selling the household's interest would be relatively great. An asset shall be so identified if its sale or any other disposition taken against that asset is unlikely to produce any significant amount of funds for the support of the household. The assets affected by this subsection are all nonliquid assets, except vehicles, as defined in section 17-675-2, and does not apply to financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, and negotiable financial instruments. In determining whether the asset is to be exempted based on this subsection, the following standard shall be used: (1) "Significant return" shall be any return, after estimated costs of sale or disposition, and taking into account the ownership interest of the household, that is estimated to be one-half or more of the applicable resource limit for the household; and(2) "Any significant amount of funds" shall be funds amounting to one-half or more of the applicable resource limit for the household.[Eff 3/19/93; am 2/7/94; am 4/1/96] (Auth: HRS § 346-14) (Imp: 7 C.F.R. §273.8(e)(8) )