N.M. Admin. Code § 8.215.500.21

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 8.215.500.21 - DEEMED INCOME

A.Availability: Deemed income is income which must be considered available to members of an assistance unit regardless of whether the income is actually made available.

B.Situations in which deeming occurs: For household member(s) who are not members of the assistance unit but who have a support obligation to the assistance unit member(s), income can only be deemed from a parent(s) to his/her minor child(ren) who live in the same household and from one spouse to the other when both live in the same household.

C.Parent or spouse receiving benefits based on economic need: In a deeming situation where one parent or the spouse is receiving a needs benefit, the benefit plus all of the income of the spouse/parent who receives the benefit is excluded from the deeming process. This exclusion applies only to the income of the individual who receives the benefit.

(1)Needs benefit defined: "Needs benefit" is any benefit or assistance which is paid by a governmental agency on the basis of economic need.

(2)Consideration of household membership: Even if the income of one parent is excluded from the deeming process, the parent is considered a member of the household for purposes of determining the parental allocation. This does not apply to benefits received under the temporary assistance to needy families (TANF) program. No income is allocated to a parent or child if that parent or child is receiving TANF assistance.

D.Applicant living with ineligible spouse:

(1) If an applicant/recipient is living in the same household with an ineligible spouse, income may be deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant/recipient.

(2) The methodology described below does not apply to the qualified medicare beneficiaries (QMB) program. See Paragraph (1) of Subsection B of Section 8.240.500.15 NMAC for methodology applicable to the QMB program only.

(a)Evaluation of applicant's income: Determine the amount of income available to the applicant using only the applicant's own income and allow the twenty dollars ($20) disregard. If the applicant/recipient has earned income, the first sixty five dollars ($65) plus one-half of the remainder is also disregarded.

(i) If an applicant/recipient's own income exceeds the income standard for an individual, the applicant/recipient is ineligible. No further calculation needs to be done.

(ii) If an applicant/recipient's countable income is less than the standard for an individual, determine the ineligible spouse's gross income.

(b)Evaluation of ineligible spouse's gross income: Determine the ineligible spouse's gross income (both earned and unearned). Subtract the twenty dollars ($20) general disregard plus the first sixty five dollars ($65) and one-half of the remainder from any earned income. If there are no children in the household, compare the ineligible spouse's countable income to one-half of the SSI federal benefit rate (FBR) for an individual not living in the household of others. If the ineligible spouse's countable income is less than one-half of the SSI FBR, no income is deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant/recipient. If the ineligible spouse's countable income equals or exceeds one-half of the SSI FBR, income is deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant.

E.Applicant living with ineligible spouse and children:

(1) A "child" is under 18 years of age or under 21 years of age if a full-time student at an accredited institution of learning.

(2) If there are children in the household, subtract a living allowance for each ineligible child from the ineligible spouse's countable income. The living allowance is one-half of the monthly SSI FBR for an individual not living in a household with others less any income attributable to the child. If the remaining amount is less than one-half of the SSI FBR, no income is deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant/recipient. If the remaining amount equals or exceeds one-half of the SSI FBR, income is deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant/recipient.

(3)Determination of countable income: Add the total gross unearned income of the ineligible spouse to the total gross unearned income of the applicant/recipient. The twenty dollars ($20) disregard is deducted from the combined total of the couple's unearned income. If the total unearned income is less than twenty dollars ($20), the remainder is deducted from the combined total of the couple's earned income. The first sixty five dollars ($65) and half (1/2) of the remainder is subtracted from the combined total of the couple's earned income. After all applicable disregards have been subtracted, the remaining earned and unearned income amounts are combined to arrive at the total countable income. If the total countable income is less than the income standard for a couple, the applicant/recipient is eligible.

F.Applicant child living with ineligible parents: A "child" applicant/recipient is under 18 years of age. The ISD worker determines the total gross monthly amount of parental income, both unearned and earned. The ISD worker applies appropriate income disregards to calculate the countable deemed income. See Section 8.200.520.18 NMAC, deemed income worksheet. If the deemed income plus the child's separate income exceeds the income standard for an applicant/recipient, the child is not eligible for that month.

G.Applicant/recipient parent and applicant/recipient child(ren): If a household is composed of an applicant/recipient parent and an applicant/recipient child(ren), the income is deemed from the ineligible spouse to the applicant/recipient spouse if appropriate. See Subsection B of Section 8.215.500.21 NMAC, deemed income.

(1) If there is enough total income to make the applicant/recipient parent ineligible, the remainder of the income is carried over to be deemed to the child(ren). Deemed income is divided equally among the applicant/recipient children.

(2) If the total countable income of the child, including the deemed income, is more than the applicable income standard, the child is ineligible.

N.M. Admin. Code § 8.215.500.21

2-1-95, 7-31-97; 8.215.500.21 NMAC - Rn, 8 NMAC 4.SSI.523, 3-1-01; A, 6-1-04; A, 4-1-09, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 04, February 27, 2018, eff. 3/1/2018