SECTION 366.847. Exempt Resources

HHSC exempts the following from countable resources:

(1) funds in a retirement account (even if accessible, so long as the funds remain in the account);

(2) balances in the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan (formerly called the Texas Tomorrow Fund) even if accessible, so long as the funds remain in the account;

(3) crime victim's compensation payments;

(4) earned income tax credit (EIC) payments to applicants the month of receipt and the following month, and to recipients the month of receipt and the following 11 months, unless there is a break in certification of more than 30 days, in which case any remaining portion of the EIC payment is counted as a resource;

(5) payments or allowances made under any federal law for the purpose of energy assistance;

(6) federal disaster payments and comparable disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster assistance organizations if the applicant or recipient is subject to legal penalties if the funds are not used as intended;

(7) transitional living allowances;

(8) any resource federal law excludes;

(9) funds from veterans payments earmarked as a housebound allowance or as an aid and attendance allowance;

(10) the cash value of life insurance policies;

(11) an amount up to $7,500 per person of prepaid burial insurance (or of a prepaid funeral plan);

(12) loans, if the circumstances satisfy HHSC that there exists an understanding the money will be repaid, and the applicant or recipient reasonably explains to HHSC how the money will be repaid;

(13) personal possessions HHSC determines are essential for daily living, such as clothing, jewelry, furniture, livestock, and farm equipment;

(14) burial plots;

(15) the homestead and surrounding real property, including:

(A) any structure, including a houseboat or a motor home, the applicant or recipient uses as its primary residence;

(B) surrounding real property divided by a public right-of-way (such as a street or road) but not divided by real property owned by others; and

(C) the homestead if it is temporarily unoccupied due to employment, training for future employment, illness, casualty, or natural disaster, as long as the household intends to return;

(16) income-producing property (any real or personal property that generates income) that:

(A) is essential to a household composition member's employment or self-employment (such as tools of a trade, farm machinery, stock, and inventory), including:

(i) during temporary periods of unemployment if the household composition member expects to return to work; and

(ii) for farmers or fishers, the value of the land or equipment for one year after the date the self-employment ceases;

(B) annually produces income consistent with a fair market value comparable in the community (as determined by HHSC through sources such as local realtors, tax assessors, and the Small Business Administration), even if used only on a seasonal basis such as rental property; or

(C) is that portion of the property that is necessary for the maintenance or use of a vehicle exempted as income-producing or as necessary for transporting a physically disabled household member;

(17) real property HHSC determines the applicant or recipient is making a good faith effort to sell;

(18) resources HHSC determines are not accessible to the applicant or recipient;

(19) funds from educational assistance payments (but only during the quarter, semester, or applicable period the payment is intended to cover);

(20) equity value of resources that are not legally available (inaccessible) to the household;

(21) a nonliquid resource if its equity is less than or equal to $1,500;

(22) a One-Time Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (OTTANF) payment for the month of receipt and any remaining OTTANF benefits the month after receipt;

(23) a TANF One-Time Grandparent payment;

(24) reimbursements earmarked and used for replacing or repairing an exempt resource;

(25) for an applicant or recipient who lives at the same physical address as a sponsored alien, the resources of a sponsor and the sponsor's spouse to the extent allowed by federal law;

(26) resources of residents in shelters for battered women and children if:

(A) resources are jointly owned by the member of the household composition in the shelter and household composition members of the former physical living address; and

(B) shelter resident's access to the value of the resource depends on the agreement of a joint owner who still lives in the resident's former physical living address;

(27) resources of a recipient of Supplemental Security Income living in the home;

(28) liquid resources resulting from the earnings of a certified child who is attending school full time, or less than full time and employed less than 30 hours per week; and

(29) funds held in a school-based account or bond as described by §28.0024 of the Texas Education Code and authorized by §32.02611 of the Texas Human Resources Code.

Source Note: The provisions of this §366.847 adopted to be effective June 1, 2014, 39 TexReg 3981; amended to be effective November 20, 2016, 41 TexReg 9007