Lump Sum Payments
Information on this page refers to the Nutrition Assistance program Information on this page refers to the Cash Assistance program
This section has information about lump sum payments.
Policy
One time nonrecurring Lump sum(g) payments are not countable as unearned or earned income. FAA treats nonrecurring lump sum payments as a resource.
Lump sum payments include back payments for initial months or restored benefits. Lump sum payments are paid by, and are not limited to, any of the following:
Assistance Payments
Child Support
Social Security Administration
Veterans Administration (VA) benefits
Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits
Railroad Retirement (RR) benefits
Indian Gaming Industry Per Capita Disbursements
Profit Sharing Dividends
Recurring lump sum payments that can be anticipated, are countable as unearned income.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for lump sum payments include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
Assistance payments records
AZTECS INTERFACE INQUIRY MENU (ININ) for verification of SSA or SSI income
Benefit award letters from SSA, Statement of Earnings VA, and other agencies
Bank records
Agency or payer providing the income
Court records or court orders
DCSS documents or print outs
Signed statement from the agency or payer providing the income
Participant statement verification can be used when obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant or when all of the following occur:
Attempts to obtain the verification from an acceptable source are unsuccessful. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
The participant’s statement is not questionable(g).
Legal Authorities
last revised 05/13/2023