People who live together and buy and prepare meals together are one household. If they live together but buy and prepare meals separately, they may be separate households unless they are mandatory household members as described in Section 510.22. 7 CFR § 273.1(a)
The CAO must use the following definitions to decide whether a sibling, parent, or child must be included as a household member:
An elderly person is one who is 60 years old or older at the end of the application month. 7 CFR § 271.2
A disabled person is any of the following:
A person who receives or has been approved for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of blindness or disability.
NOTE: The person must show proof. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A person who receives or has been approved for disability benefits from Social Security or any other government agency that uses the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) disability criteria 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof, unless the disability is obvious. Acceptable proof includes a statement from a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist. Disability benefits received under criteria other than the SSA’s are not acceptable. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A veteran who is considered totally disabled by the Veterans Administration (VA) or who is permanently housebound or needs regular aid and attendance 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person may use as proof a letter from the VA stating that the veteran receives VA benefits based on 100% disability. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
The surviving spouse of a veteran if the VA considers the spouse to be either permanently housebound or in need of regular aid and attendance 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person may use proof that shows he or she is receiving VA disability benefits. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
The surviving child of a veteran if the VA considers the child to be incapable of self-support 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person may use proof that the child is receiving VA disability benefits. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
The surviving spouse or surviving child of a veteran if compensation or pension benefits for the veteran's death have been approved and the spouse or child meets the SSA disability criteria 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof that death benefits have been approved. Proof of disability is required unless the disability is obvious. Acceptable proof includes a statement from a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A person who receives Railroad Retirement disability benefits and is eligible for Medicare or meets the SSA disability criteria 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof of railroad disability receipt and Medicare eligibility. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A person who receives General Assistance (GA) benefits for being incapacitated if the person has been referred for SSI and benefits are pending 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof that SSI is pending for the GA incapacitated person. The case record or Client Information System (eCIS) must show program status code 50, showing that the person whose SSI eligibility is pending has been referred to the Disability Advocacy Program (DAP). 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A person who receives GA for being incapacitated and has been denied SSI benefits but certified as disabled by the state Medical Review Team (MRT) (program status code 50) 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof of MRT disability certification. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
A person who receives disability-related Medical Assistance (MA) 7 CFR § 271.2
NOTE: The person must show proof that a household member receives a category of disability-related MA with eligibility criteria at least as strict as SSI’s. The disability-related MA categories qualifying for disabled person status are TJ, PG, PJ, PH, PI, PW, PJW, and PC/27 (if the parent is disabled). 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
NOTE: A former MAWD recipient whose benefits were stopped for nonpayment of premiums is not considered disabled. The person is considered disabled only if he or she continues to get disability-related MA or GA established by an MRT review. 7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1)(viii)(A)
Mandatory household members are persons who live together and who must be included in the same household, even if they are not buying and preparing meals together. Non-mandatory household members may be separate households if they buy and prepare meals separately. 7 CFR § 273.1(b)
NOTE: Ineligible students, ineligible household members, and persons who are disqualified because they did not comply with work requirements are not included as mandatory household members.
Spouses (including common-law) must always be included in the same household, unless the spouse is not living at home because of military service. (See Section 555.3.)
NOTE:A common-law marriage is legally recognized only if it existed before January 1, 2005. In a common-law marriage, the man and woman are legally free to marry, are known to the community as husband and wife, and state that they both agree to live together as husband and wife.
A person claiming to be a common-law spouse must show proof that the couple was presenting itself to the community as a married couple before January 1, 2005. Acceptable proof includes the deed to their residence, leases, income tax records, bank records, utility bills, or statements from knowledgeable persons.
If the record shows that the recipients have been presenting themselves as married under common law since before January 1, 2005, the marriage is legally recognized and can be dissolved only through the legal process.
Parents and a child (natural, adopted, or stepchild), age 21 or younger, and a child's own child or spouse are included in the same household unless one parent is elderly and disabled. (See Section 510.21 and Section 510.41.)
Shared custody situations require the child or children to be included in the applicant household regardless of where the child or children eat the majority of meals in any given month.
If only one parent applies for benefits, the child or children are included in that household, no matter which parent has parental control and financial responsibility.
If both parents apply for benefits, for a child and the parents cannot reach a decision as to who should receive the benefits on behalf of the child, the CAO will issue benefits to the parent who provides the majority of the meals in a month.
If both parents have equal physical custody and they cannot reach an agreement as to who should receive benefits for the child, the CAO will include the child in the household of the parent who applies first.
The CAO must inform the authorized parent of the responsibility to use the benefits for the child’s needs throughout the month—not just when the child is in the authorized parent's physical custody.
A stepparent and stepchild can be separate SNAP households if the natural parent dies or the marriage ends in divorce and the former stepparent does not have parental control of the former stepchild.
A child under 18 years of age must be included with a nonparent adult if the adult has parental control over the child, even if the adult is not related.
A foster child is considered a boarder and is not a mandatory household member.
Mr. and Mrs. A., both age 20, live with Mrs. A.’s parents but buy and prepare their meals separately. Mr. and Mrs. A. and her parents are one household.
Miss B., age 22, and her two children live with Miss B.'s parents, both age 44. Miss B. buys food and prepares meals separately from her parents. Miss B. and her children are considered a separate household from her parents.
Mr. C. moves in with his girlfriend, Miss D., and her child. Miss D. and child receive SNAP benefits. Mr. C. is an able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) and does not want to be added to Miss D.’s SNAP household. Because all individuals in the house buy and prepare meals together, Mr. C. is a mandatory household member and must be included in the SNAP household.
Reissued March 1, 2012, replacing September 18, 2008