Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 18, May 4, 2024
Section 177.23 - Ownership(a)Legally available resources. Only resources which are legally available, or are deemed available in the case of sponsors of aliens, to the client are applied toward the resource limitation. See § 177.2 (relating to definitions). (1) When consent to dispose of resources is needed, but is withheld by a person who is not a member of the budget group or by an LRR who does not reside in the home, the resource is not available. The shared ownership and the person's refusal to dispose of the resource shall be verified. The unavailability of resources shall be verified at application and no less often than each reapplication.(2) Special requirements for the disposal of real or personal property owned by an LRR are contained in §§ 177.11(g), 177.21(b) and (c) and 177.22(c)-(e) (relating to identification and verification of resources; personal property; and real property).(3) Entireties property is property owned jointly by a husband and wife. One spouse cannot, without the other's consent, liquidate the property to support children for whom both persons are not legally responsible.(b)Establishing ownership. Real and personal property can have more than one owner. Establishing the type of ownership is essential in determining the availability and the value of the budget group's resources. (1) The following rebuttable presumptions apply in determining the availability of real and personal property resources: (i) If a budget group member is the sole owner, assume that the resource is available.(ii) If ownership is shared by persons who are budget group members, it is assumed that the resource is available.(iii) If ownership is shared by a budget group member and a person who is not an applicant or recipient, the type of shared ownership shall be established to determine availability and the following rebuttable presumptions apply: (A) If the budget group member has a separate legal interest which can be disposed of without the consent of the other owners, assume the budget group member's share of the resource is available.(B) If the budget group member has a legal interest which can be disposed of only with the consent of the other owners, and consent is not withheld, assume that the budget group member's share of the resource is available.(2) A bank account owned jointly by husband and wife is not entireties property unless a contrary intent is clearly shown, or the account predates September 1, 1976. A bank account may be held in many forms, including "A and B," "A or B," "A and B, or both" and "A in trust for B." The legal rights of the parties are not wholly determined by the title of the account. The account title or caption merely determines the rights of the account vis-a-vis the bank and not their rights vis-a-vis each other. The following rebuttable presumptions are applied in determining the availability of bank accounts:(i) The persons whose names appear on the account title are the owners.(ii) Persons who own an account jointly-for example, and, or, and/or-own the account in proportion to their contributions.(iii) If contributions cannot be determined, each owner of a joint account owns an equal share.(iv) If an account is titled "in trust for," the account is a tentative trust, unless written trust documents exist. A tentative trust is owned by the trustee, and the beneficiary has no legal rights before the death of the trustee.The provisions of this § 177.23 adopted August 4, 1977, effective 8/5/1977, 7 Pa.B. 2180; amended January 4, 1980, effective 3/5/1980, 10 Pa.B. 43; explained November 6, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 3954; amended November 6, 1981, effective 11/7/1981, 11 Pa.B. 3969; amended November 6, 1981, effective 11/7/1981, 11 Pa.B. 3972; amended November 6, 1981, effective 11/7/1981, 11 Pa.B. 3973; amended July 9, 1982, effective 7/10/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2175; corrected July 23, 1982, effective 7/10/1982, 12 Pa.B. 2324; amended August 26, 1988, effective 11/1/1988, 18 Pa.B. 3893.The provisions of this § 177.23 issued under sections 201(2) and 403(b) of the Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. §§ 201(2) and 403(b)); amended under section 403(b) of the Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. § 403(b)).