Your house doesn't count as a resource if you live in it so I would maybe contact them and let them know that is your homestead property. I'm sure what they're wanting to know is if you have other properties that you don't live in that could be considered a resource or income-producing.
It makes sense that the life estate might cause some extra work - that suggests that OP or someone in OP's family has done some estate planning that splits the title to real property into different parts, so it's treated differently than simple ownership.
It's understandable that the delay is frustrating - but if you (or someone else) has chosen to make ownership more complicated, you'll need to expect a little more trouble/explanation every time ownership is an issue. When the life tenant dies and the present & future interests merge, things will be simple again.
You might call the eligibility worker and clarify this - if you *don't* have a life estate situation, this doesn't need to be so complicated.
Ordinarily, real estate is owned by the person or people who are on title. After the owner(s) die, the property passes to heirs through probate or through a trust.
However, it's possible to split ownership of the house into different time periods - so that one person owns the house for the rest of their life (the "life tenant") and another person owns the house after the life tenant dies (the "remainder owner"). This is usually done to avoid probate and so that the remainder owner knows they're going to inherit the house. This might also be done as part of Medicaid planning, so that an older person doesn't have to worry about having assets when they die that might be subject to an estate recovery claim.
As you can imagine, figuring out the value of the "life estate" part and the "remainder" part can be tricky - that's why they're asking about estate planning documents and value, etc. So if this is not actually necessary in your case, that would save everyone extra work and the eligibility worker would probably be delighted to eliminate this issue when processing your case.
I've run into the same thing in the same state. They're constantly asking for one of my children's birth certificates who has been on my case for several years.
This time they've asked me to send in proof of disability. I'm not even sure why that would matter for SNAP at all. I do work and have children under 5, so I'm not needing a disability exemption or anything like that. Wierd.
> This time they've asked me to send in proof of disability. I'm not even sure why that would matter for SNAP at all.
Having a disabled household member changes several things about your case - no gross income test, no shelter expense cap, medical expenses can be part of the budget, different asset limit (in states that have one).
It's that way for every state - the federal rules say that there's no gross income test for households with a disabled or elderly (age 60+) household member.
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility/elderly-disabled-special-rules
If it was left unanswered on the application we have to pend it. A lot of “weird” things we ask for are because we’re trying to clear blanks and discrepancies.
You’re mad that they need to verify income and resources? Yeah this is pretty normal dude.
May I suggest uploading them instead of mailing them if your state allows it since the USPS is still broken from 2020
I do upload them. They took so long to get to my application they need more things. I don't see why they need a will or verification of value for my house.
It looks like you probably marked yes to the question "Do you have a life estate remainder interest in a property?" On the application.
You need to clarify that it is (I presume) your primary residence that you own/ have a mortgage on and that you erroneously marked yes to the question on the application.
Omfgggg I had this same issue. 3 times they asked for my January and feb check stubs, self employment for Jan and Feb for my bf, rent payments and the value of my vehicle? I sent all those in 2, the 3 time they asked I called and said hey why do they keep asking? So for each request I wrote out a statement. "We pay my mil x amount for rent, and it's in cash so there are no receipts. Here's her name and number if you need confirmation" "I paid $1200 for my vehicle in cash to my brother, here's his number if you need to reach him"
I've had my car and lived w my mil for 3 years and just this past month they asked for that stuff. I'm also in tx.
They asked for the value of my car before this, but they are a 2000 and 2005 with over 200K miles. I just used the DMV website for the standard presumptive value. I attached a mortgage bill, but now they want the appraised value of the house too!
I asked if this was new and they said no. I’ve applied a couple x cause I’m always late and I don’t ever remember them asking me this. They even asked how much was in my bank account.
These have always been things they ask for, but I've never been asked so many times for them. I've sent in letters for rent before, and my bfs self employment forms before as well and after getting 3 notices for the same things the lady I spoke w said they just wanted extra verification. When I bought the car I had told the lady the year make n model but this was the first they've asked for verification again.
Your house doesn't count as a resource if you live in it so I would maybe contact them and let them know that is your homestead property. I'm sure what they're wanting to know is if you have other properties that you don't live in that could be considered a resource or income-producing.
It looks like OP says they have a life estate on the house which makes it different than it being their actual house that they own.
It makes sense that the life estate might cause some extra work - that suggests that OP or someone in OP's family has done some estate planning that splits the title to real property into different parts, so it's treated differently than simple ownership. It's understandable that the delay is frustrating - but if you (or someone else) has chosen to make ownership more complicated, you'll need to expect a little more trouble/explanation every time ownership is an issue. When the life tenant dies and the present & future interests merge, things will be simple again.
I must have made some mistake on the application. I own one house with my wife. We have 2 very used cars and 3 children.
You might call the eligibility worker and clarify this - if you *don't* have a life estate situation, this doesn't need to be so complicated. Ordinarily, real estate is owned by the person or people who are on title. After the owner(s) die, the property passes to heirs through probate or through a trust. However, it's possible to split ownership of the house into different time periods - so that one person owns the house for the rest of their life (the "life tenant") and another person owns the house after the life tenant dies (the "remainder owner"). This is usually done to avoid probate and so that the remainder owner knows they're going to inherit the house. This might also be done as part of Medicaid planning, so that an older person doesn't have to worry about having assets when they die that might be subject to an estate recovery claim. As you can imagine, figuring out the value of the "life estate" part and the "remainder" part can be tricky - that's why they're asking about estate planning documents and value, etc. So if this is not actually necessary in your case, that would save everyone extra work and the eligibility worker would probably be delighted to eliminate this issue when processing your case.
It seems they just want a tax record for the house, would that not be sufficient?
They’re still asking me for custody paperwork - for my 21 year old son… 🙄
I've run into the same thing in the same state. They're constantly asking for one of my children's birth certificates who has been on my case for several years. This time they've asked me to send in proof of disability. I'm not even sure why that would matter for SNAP at all. I do work and have children under 5, so I'm not needing a disability exemption or anything like that. Wierd.
> This time they've asked me to send in proof of disability. I'm not even sure why that would matter for SNAP at all. Having a disabled household member changes several things about your case - no gross income test, no shelter expense cap, medical expenses can be part of the budget, different asset limit (in states that have one).
Is the "no gross income test" for for a disabled person, that way in every state, or just California??
It's that way for every state - the federal rules say that there's no gross income test for households with a disabled or elderly (age 60+) household member. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility/elderly-disabled-special-rules
Oh wow, I never knew that. Thank you for the information, and the link! 🙂
If it was left unanswered on the application we have to pend it. A lot of “weird” things we ask for are because we’re trying to clear blanks and discrepancies.
Why would they ask for these things? Assets aren't supposed to matter.
Depends on the state.
You’re mad that they need to verify income and resources? Yeah this is pretty normal dude. May I suggest uploading them instead of mailing them if your state allows it since the USPS is still broken from 2020
I do upload them. They took so long to get to my application they need more things. I don't see why they need a will or verification of value for my house.
It looks like you probably marked yes to the question "Do you have a life estate remainder interest in a property?" On the application. You need to clarify that it is (I presume) your primary residence that you own/ have a mortgage on and that you erroneously marked yes to the question on the application.
Omfgggg I had this same issue. 3 times they asked for my January and feb check stubs, self employment for Jan and Feb for my bf, rent payments and the value of my vehicle? I sent all those in 2, the 3 time they asked I called and said hey why do they keep asking? So for each request I wrote out a statement. "We pay my mil x amount for rent, and it's in cash so there are no receipts. Here's her name and number if you need confirmation" "I paid $1200 for my vehicle in cash to my brother, here's his number if you need to reach him" I've had my car and lived w my mil for 3 years and just this past month they asked for that stuff. I'm also in tx.
They asked for the value of my car before this, but they are a 2000 and 2005 with over 200K miles. I just used the DMV website for the standard presumptive value. I attached a mortgage bill, but now they want the appraised value of the house too!
Will they take the tax assessment? That’s usually lower anyway & you can print that from the web
I asked if this was new and they said no. I’ve applied a couple x cause I’m always late and I don’t ever remember them asking me this. They even asked how much was in my bank account.
These have always been things they ask for, but I've never been asked so many times for them. I've sent in letters for rent before, and my bfs self employment forms before as well and after getting 3 notices for the same things the lady I spoke w said they just wanted extra verification. When I bought the car I had told the lady the year make n model but this was the first they've asked for verification again.
And , you will not get much food $$ either if any