Ownership of Assets

(A) General. Assets owned exclusively by an applicant or member and the spouse are counted in their entirety when determining eligibility for MassHealth, except when assessing assets in accordance with 130 CMR 520.016. (B) Joint Ownership of Assets, Other than Bank Accounts. Any asset, other than a joint bank account, jointly owned by two or more individuals, is presumed to be owned in equal shares and counted proportionately unless a different distribution of ownership is verified or unless assets are being assessed in accordance with 130 CMR 520.016. When such a different distribution of ownership is verified, the MassHealth agency attributes the countable value of the assets to the applicant or member or the spouse in proportion to the ownership interest. (C) Joint Bank Accounts. (1) Bank accounts are defined at 130 CMR 520.007(B)(1). (2) When the applicant or member is a joint owner of a bank account, the entire amount on deposit is considered available to the applicant or member, except when assessing assets in accordance with 130 CMR 520.016. (3) If the applicant or member claims partial ownership of the funds in the joint account, he or she must verify the amount owned by each joint depositor. When such a partial ownership is verified, the countable value of the assets is attributed to each owner in proportion to the ownership interest. (4) The applicant or member may transfer the funds owned by him or her into an account that accurately reflects his or her ownership interest. The MassHealth agency does not consider such a transfer of assets to make oneself eligible for MassHealth if the transfer is completed within 30 days after written notification by the MassHealth agency of this requirement, except in the case of a community spouse as described at 130 CMR 520.016 who is allowed 90 days to make the transfer. (D) Verifications. Individual or joint ownership of any countable asset must be verified by a written document providing reasonable evidence of ownership. The MassHealth agency determines whether a verification is acceptable in accordance with 130 CMR 520.007(B)(3) and 130 CMR 520.005(D). Acceptable verification includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) a title; (2) a purchase contract; (3) documents establishing ownership of joint bank accounts that demonstrate the following: (a) the origin of the funds in a joint bank account, who opened the account, or whose money was used to open the account; (b) federal and state tax records as to which joint account holders pay the tax on interest credited to the account as income; (c) records of who makes deposits and withdrawals and, if appropriate, how withdrawn funds are spent; (d) any evidence of written or oral agreements made between the parties at the time of the creation of the account; (e) evidence of age, relationship, physical or mental condition, or place of residence of the co-holders when the applicant or member states that he or she does not own the account but is listed as a co-holder solely as a convenience to the other co-holder to conduct bank transactions on his or her behalf; and (f) why the applicant or member is listed on the account; (4) certification of ownership; (5) financial-institution records indicating the establishment of an account that accurately reflect the ownership interest of funds from the joint account; (6) other documentation that indicates ownership, asset value, and restrictions on access; (7) a notarized affidavit, sworn to under penalty of perjury, signed by all owners of the asset, and attesting to the distribution of ownership; or (8) the self-declaration of the individual who is applying solely for MassHealth Senior Buy- In for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB) as described in 130 CMR 519.010: MassHealth Senior Buy-In (for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB)) or MassHealth Buy-In for Specified Low Income Medicare Beneficiaries (SLMB) or MassHealth Buy-In for Qualifying Individuals (QI) both as described in 130 CMR 519.011: MassHealth Buy-In, provided that the MassHealth agency may use electronic data sources to verify eligibility, and at its discretion, request additional verification from the individual. Page 520.006