SSI is the basic federal safety net program for the elderly, blind and disabled, providing them with a minimum guaranteed income.  If your resources are above the program’s resource limits of $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a married couple, you may be able to "spend down" to qualify for SSI, similar to the process to qualify for the Medicaid program.

If you give away a resource or sell it for less than it is worth in order to get under the SSI resource limit, you may be ineligible for SSI for up to 36 months. The SSA looks at whether or not you have transferred a resource within the previous three years. If you have, it computes a penalty period by dividing the amount of the transfer by your monthly benefit amount.

Thus, if you give your son a $6,000 gift and then apply for a monthly SSI benefit of $600 within three years of the gift, you will not be eligible for SSI for 10 months (6,000/600=10). That 10-month period will begin on the date of the transfer and end 10 months later. In other words, although you can be ineligible for up to 36 months due to a transfer, that is only a cap. The actual period of ineligibility is based on the value of what you transferred divided by the monthly benefit in your state.

You should be aware that transfers may be "cured" by the person to whom you made a gift returning it to you. And, finally, there are certain exceptions to the transfer penalty. These include gifts to

• A spouse (or anyone else for the spouse's benefit);
• A blind or disabled child;
• A trust for the benefit of a blind or disabled child;
• A trust for the sole benefit of a disabled individual under age 65 (even if the trust is for the benefit of the applicant, under certain circumstances).

In addition, special exceptions apply to the transfer of a home. The SSI applicant may freely transfer his or her home to the following individuals without incurring a transfer penalty:

• The applicant's spouse;
• A child who is under age 21 or who is blind or disabled;
• Into a trust for the sole benefit of a disabled individual under age 65 (even if the trust is for the benefit of the applicant, under certain circumstances);
• A sibling who has lived in the home during the year preceding the applicant's institutionalization and who already holds an equity interest in the home; or
• A "caretaker child," who is defined as a child of the applicant who lived in the house for at least two years prior to the applicant's institutionalization and who during that period provided care that allowed the applicant to avoid a nursing home stay.

For more on SSI, click here.

For more legal information and assistance for those with special needs, visit our SpecialNeedsAnswers Web site at www.specialneedsanswers.com. While some ElderLawAnswers attorneys practice in this area of the law, all attorneys listed on SpecialNeedsAnswers devote a significant part of their practices to working with individuals with special needs and with their families to plan for the future.