Alimony Payments
  |
This section includes information about support income received as alimony or spousal maintenance payments.
Policy
Alimony payments, also known as spousal maintenance, are countable and considered unearned income of the participant for whom the support is court ordered to be paid.
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 expenses are exceeding their income. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Spousal maintenance and alimony payments are court-ordered support amounts, paid by a legally divorced or separated person, to the spouse(g). Spousal maintenance and alimony payments are countable when received by a participant in the budgetary unit.
Support income is any payment ordered by the court and received by the participant, from any of the following:
●Current or prior spouse
●An absent parent
●The Clerk of the Court in Arizona or another state
●Any state’s centralized support payment processing center
●A private collection agency
●The Division of Child Support Services (DCSS)
NOTE A spousal or cash medical support payment that is received by a participant but not court ordered is countable as a gift unless the payment is a recurring arrearage payment.
Procedures
The support income of nonqualified noncitizens must be prorated to the remaining budgetary unit participants. AZTECS automatically completes the calculation.
Use participant statement verification when the attempt to obtain verification from the ex-spouse, spouse, or absent parent may cause harm or undue hardship for the participant. Document the case file(g) with the reason the participant statement verification was accepted.
When the participant is present, have them sign the Authority to Release (FAA‑1765A) form to contact any companies or businesses involved. The FAA-1765A can be faxed or emailed to the participant's employer when it is not possible to use the Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A) or the HEAplus Authority to Release signed statement.
Direct Pay Support Income
Direct pay support income is court-ordered support paid directly from a private source. Private sources include and are not limited to any of the following:
●Private collection agency
●The absent parent or ex-spouse
NOTE When support income is received directly from a private collection agency, count the gross amount received. Do not deduct fees retained by the collection agency.
Verification
System interface and the case file(g) must be reviewed before verification is requested. No additional verification is needed when AZTECS interface or HEAplus hubs have verified the information.
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 Spousal Maintenance or Alimony payments include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Court records
●Pay records from the Clerk of the Court in Arizona or another state
●Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) documents showing the amount of support required to be paid
●SSA or SSI pay history from the HEAplus State Online Query Internet (SOLQI) or the SSA award letter when the support is taken out of the benefit
●Copies of cancelled checks or money order receipts made out to the participant
●Receipts and pay histories from any state’s centralized support payment processing center
●Paycheck stub with garnishment amount
●Written statement from a person not in the budgetary unit to whom payments are made
●Participant Statement verification when one of the following occur:
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
When all of the following occur:
●Other attempts to obtain the verification have failed. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
●The participant has requested assistance from FAA.
●The worker has evaluated the request for assistance and cannot obtain the verification from another acceptable source.
●The participant statement is not questionable(g).
AZTECS Keying Procedures
Spousal maintenance or alimony support payments may be issued through DCSS and display on CHSP as SP RE. Spousal maintenance arrearages or alimony arrearages display on CHSP as SP AR or SP LS.
AR displaying on CHSP indicates a support arrearage payment that is recurring. LS indicates a Lump Sum payment. A lump sum payment is considered a one-time lump sum and is not expected to continue. Lump sum payments are not countable as income. Lump sum payments are countable as a resource.
Key support income on UNIN next to the participant for whom the support is court ordered to be paid using the appropriate support income code. When the court ordered support is received directly from a collection agency or the current or former spouse, key one of the following in the INC TYP field on UNIC.
●DS RE: Direct Pay Spousal Maintenance Received, Current
●DS AR: Direct Pay Spousal Maintenance, Arrearage/Recurring
●DS LS: Direct Pay Spousal Maintenance, Lump Sum
Document the case file(g) thoroughly to support keyed codes, amounts, and frequencies. See the AZTECS Data Entry Guide for instructions on keying the AZTECS income screens.
NOTE Documentation must support determinations of eligibility and benefit level. Document in sufficient detail to ensure that any reviewer can assess whether the determination is reasonable and accurate. Include specific information regarding the reason the income is determined to be normal. (See Budgeting Income Documentation Requirements for additional information.)
Legal Authorities
AAC R6-12-504
7 CFR 273.9(c)(19)(vi)
7 CFR 273.9(b)(2)(iii)
last revised 10/02/2023