Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009

An infrequent payment is a payment that is received no more than once per calendar quarter.

An irregular payment is a payment made without an agreement or understanding and without any reasonable expectation that payment will occur again.

Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009

Income is not considered infrequent when it is received:

• more than once per calendar quarter from a single source; or
• only once during a calendar quarter from a single source and another payment was received from the same source in the month immediately preceding or the month immediately following. It does not matter that the payments fall into different calendar quarters.

Note: If the payment in the month immediately preceding or the month following is not a normal quarterly payment from that source, consider this one-time payment as irregular.

Determine the calendar quarter in which the income is received. Calendar quarters are:

• January - March;
• April - June;
• July - September; and
• October - December.

Based on the receipt of the infrequent or irregular income, exclude the following amount of income from the eligibility budget:

• the first $30 per calendar quarter of earned income; and
• the first $60 per calendar quarter of unearned income.

Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009

Exclude income that is either infrequent or irregular, as defined in Section E-9100, Definitions. In order to be excluded, the income need only be one or the other (infrequent or irregular).

If income is infrequent or irregular and the total from all sources per calendar quarter is greater than $30 earned or $60 unearned, count the amount that exceeds the $30 or $60. Apply the exclusion to the first infrequent or irregular income received in a calendar quarter.

The infrequent or irregular income exclusion applies only to the eligibility budget. Infrequent or irregular income must be considered for the co-payment budget.

For income received too infrequently or irregularly to be averaged for a projected co-payment, follow procedures for restitution in Section H-8300, Restitution, through Section H-8350, Steps for Submitting Restitution Payment.

Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009

One of the most common types of unearned income received infrequently or irregularly is interest or dividends. For treatment of this type of income consider the following:

• If the income source is either interest or dividends, first consider if the income is countable or not based on policy in Section E-3331, Interest and Dividends.
• If the interest or dividend income is determined non-countable in the eligibility budget based on policy in Section E-3331, do not consider infrequent or irregular policy.
• If the interest or dividend income is determined to be countable in the eligibility budget based on policy in Section E-3331, consider infrequent or irregular policy.

Example 1: Received $25 on March 31 and $26 on June 30. Each was received only once during a calendar quarter from a single source and meets Infrequent or Irregular. Both payments are excluded in the eligibility budget as they are less than $60 per calendar quarter. Consider for co-payment budget.

Example 2: Received $29 on March 1 from book royalty (earned income) and $58 on March 31 from oil royalty (unearned income). Each was received from a different source only once during a calendar quarter and meets Infrequent or Irregular. Both payments are excluded in the eligibility budget, as they are less than $30 earned and $60 unearned per calendar quarter. Consider for co-payment budget.

Example 3: Received $50 mineral royalty on March 31 and $49 mineral royalty on April 30. Each was received only once during a calendar quarter, but the April 30 payment was received in the month immediately following the payment in the previous quarter, thus does not meet the definition of infrequent. Consider both the $50 and $49 in the eligibility and co-payment budgets.

Exception: If the payment in the month immediately preceding or the month following is not a normal quarterly payment from that source, consider this one-time payment as irregular. The regular quarterly payment is still considered as infrequent.

Example 4: Mineral royalty payment of $15 received in the second month of each quarter. The mineral royalty payment has been routinely excluded as infrequent as the individual has no other infrequent or irregular income. The oil company changes its accounting system and, as a result, in June the individual receives $2.03 one-time payment in addition to the regular $15 mineral royalty payment in May. The $15 is still excludable as infrequent, but the unexpected $2.03 is irregular. The total of this calendar quarter is $17.03 and less than $60 and is not counted in the eligibility budget. Consider for co-payment budgets.

Example 5: A person's daughter gives her $100 for her birthday in January. The person also purchased a lottery ticket in March and won $25. Both are considered irregular. Both were received in the same quarter.

The $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion reduces the $100 payment in January, as it was the first infrequent or irregular income received in that quarter. This leaves $0 exclusion and $40 is counted in the eligibility budget for the month of January. Because the lottery winning was in the same quarter as the gift income, there is $0 remaining exclusion and the $25 is counted in the eligibility budget for the month of March.

These payments are considered in the co-payment budgets.

Example 6: The person's daughter gives her $100 in January and then in February gives her another $50. The daughter stated she will continue to periodically give her mother money, but not on a set schedule. The person also purchased a lottery ticket in March and won $25. All were received in the same quarter. The gift income is not considered infrequent or irregular. The lottery winnings are considered irregular, as they are not anticipated to continue.

As the two gift incomes are not considered irregular or infrequent, they must be counted in the month of receipt – $100 in January and $50 in February. The $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion reduces the $25, as it was the first infrequent or irregular income received in that quarter. This leaves a countable balance of $0 in the eligibility budget for the month of March.

These payments are considered in the co-payment budgets.

Example 7: The person's daughter gives her $100 for her birthday in January. The person also purchased a lottery ticket in March and won $25. Then in April the person purchases another lottery ticket and wins $40. All sources are irregular, as they are not anticipated to continue. Two sources were received in the same quarter (January - March) and one in the next quarter (April - June).

The $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion reduces the $100, as it was the first infrequent or irregular income received in that quarter. This leaves a countable balance of $40 in the eligibility budget for the month of January. Since the lottery winning was in the same quarter as the gift income, there is $0 remaining exclusion and the $25 is counted in the eligibility budget for the month of March.

The April lottery winnings of $40 can be reduced by the $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion, as it is the first infrequent or irregular income received in that quarter. Thus $0 is counted in April and $20 of the infrequent or irregular exclusion remains to be used if other infrequent or irregular income is received within that quarter.

Example 8: Don Edwards has three separate mineral royalty accounts from one oil company. He received a payment of $20 from Account A in January; $20 from Account B in February; and $20 from Account C in March.

Do not count any of the three payments in the eligibility budgets because:

• each is from a separate source;
• no payment is received more frequently than once per quarter; and
• total infrequent unearned income does not exceed $60 per calendar quarter. The $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion reduces the $20 payment in January to $0, leaving $40 exclusion that can still be applied. The remaining $40 exclusion is then applied to the $20 February payment, reducing it to $0, leaving $20 exclusion that can still be applied. The remaining $20 exclusion is then applied to the $20 March payment, reducing the countable to $0.
  • $60 unearned exclusion
  • − $20 January
  • = $40 exclusion remaining/$0 countable amount for January
  • − $20 February
  • = $20 exclusion remaining/$0 countable amount for February
  • − $20 March payment
  • = $0 exclusion remaining/$0 countable for March

These payments are considered in the co-payment budgets.

At the case review the following year, verification is received on the mineral royalties on all three accounts in January. Each mineral royalty payment was $35, for a total of $105.

This income is still considered infrequent and is greater than $60. The total in this calendar quarter is $105.

If income is infrequent or irregular and is greater than $30 earned or $60 unearned, count the amount that exceeds the $30 or $60. Apply the exclusion to the first infrequent or irregular income received in a calendar quarter.

$105 − $60 = $45 counted in the eligibility budget.

Note: If the change in frequency continues, an adjustment may be needed for the co-payment budget.

Example 9: Harry Jones has three separate mineral royalty accounts from one oil company. He received a payment of $50 from Account A in January; $20 from Account B in February; and $75 from Account C in March.

Consider these payments in the eligibility budgets because total infrequent unearned income does exceed $60 per calendar quarter.

The $60 infrequent or irregular exclusion reduces the $50 payment in January to $0, leaving $10 exclusion that can still be applied. The remaining $10 exclusion is then applied to the $20 February payment, reducing it to $10, leaving $0 exclusion. Ten dollars from the February payment is counted in the eligibility budget and the $75 March payment is counted in the March eligibility budget.

• $60 unearned exclusion
• − $50 January
• = $10 exclusion remaining/$0 countable amount for January
• − $20 February
• = $0 exclusion remaining/$10 countable amount for February

These payments are considered in the co-payment budgets.

Example 10: Emma Washington has received a mineral royalty payment of $20 in January and $20 in March.

Count both mineral royalty payments because the total payment is from a single source and is received more than once in the calendar quarter. This does not meet the definition or infrequent or irregular.

Example 11: Lucy Horton received a mineral royalty payment of $15 in the calendar quarter. In the month that the mineral royalty is paid, however, Ms. Horton also receives a cash gift of $20 from her nephew.

The mineral royalty payment is considered as infrequent and the cash gift is considered as irregular. Total the income received from both sources. Because the total does not exceed $60 in the calendar quarter, do not count either payment in the eligibility budget.

These payments are considered in the co-payment budgets.

Note: In the examples, the unearned income is considered as lump-sum payments. Restitution may be requested for nursing facility cases. (Restitution is not appropriate for non-nursing facility cases.)