North Dakota Community Spouse Countable Asset Allowance: Half, Plus Whatever a Court or a Hearing Adds

Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: North Dakota computes a spousal share — “A spousal share, which is equal to one-half of all countable assets, but not less than the minimum amount permitted under section 1924(f)(2)(A)(i) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(f)(2)(A)(i)], as adjusted pursuant to section 1924(g) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(g)], and not more than the maximum amount permitted under section 1924(f)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(f)(2)(A)(ii)(II)], as adjusted pursuant to section 1924(g) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(g)].” — and then builds the allowance on top of it. The allowance is the spousal share plus any amount added by a court order or a fair hearing, rather than the greater of those things, which is how most states express it.

What North Dakota actually sets out

How it works in practice

• The word is “plus”, and it is not a drafting accident. The allowance is defined as the spousal share “plus” any additional amount transferred under a court order or established through a fair hearing. In a greatest-of state a court order competes with the arithmetic and only helps if it is larger; here the two are stated as additive.
• The spousal share itself is the ordinary bounded half. “A spousal share, which is equal to one-half of all countable assets, but not less than the minimum amount permitted under section 1924(f)(2)(A)(i) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(f)(2)(A)(i)], as adjusted pursuant to section 1924(g) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(g)], and not more than the maximum amount permitted under section 1924(f)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(f)(2)(A)(ii)(II)], as adjusted pursuant to section 1924(g) of the Act [42 U.S.C. 1396r-5(g)].” The rule cites the federal minimum and maximum by their statutory subsections and by the indexing provision that moves them, rather than restating any figure.
• Both routes above the arithmetic are named in the definition itself. “Any additional amount transferred under a court order in the manner and for the purpose described in paragraph 4 of subdivision i of subsection 2; or” or “Any additional amount established through a fair hearing conducted under subsection 6.”
• The hearing route runs on a short clock, which is worth knowing before you need it. “Any hearing respecting the determination of the community spouse countable asset allowance must be held within thirty days of the request for the hearing.” Thirty days from request to hearing is faster than most administrative timetables, and it means a couple should have their evidence ready when they ask.
• The counting rule is stated as a presumption in the couple’s disfavour. “Countable assets include all assets that are not specifically excluded.” Everything is in unless a specific exclusion takes it out, so the work in a real case is in identifying the exclusions.
• This page states no dollar figures for North Dakota. The regulation deliberately cites the federal subsections and the indexing provision instead of restating amounts, so the operative numbers are published federally and reset each January.

What the allowance is for, and why protecting the spouse at home is a federal requirement rather than a state kindness, is explained on the community spouse resource allowance page. The date the couple’s resources are counted is its own subject, on the snapshot date page, and the monthly income allowance that runs alongside it is on the MMMNA page. This page is the record for North Dakota.

What this page does not settle

• This page reads the definitional and hearing provisions of a long chapter. The mechanics of the assessment itself, the treatment of particular asset types and the transfer rules sit elsewhere in ch. 75-02-02.1 and were not quoted here.
• This page reads one source: N.D. Admin. Code ch. 75-02-02.1, Medicaid Eligibility, Department of Health and Human Services. It is the state’s own publication on this rule, but no state puts its whole treatment of a couple’s resources in a single document, and a detail that decides your case may sit in one this page did not read.
• The resource rule is one hurdle. The income rules for the spouse at home are separate and are decided on their own numbers, the level-of-care test is separate again, and the transfer-of-assets look-back is separate from all of them. Clearing this rule does not clear any of the others.
• Every quotation here was read against the source on August 27, 2026. The federal minimum and maximum figures are reset each January, and a state can revise its own rule without the page around it changing. Open the source before you rely on a number.

Eligibility is decided by the state agency on the whole file, not by one rule on one page. Nothing here is legal advice, and no one should move, retitle or spend a couple’s savings on the strength of a web page.

Sources

• N.D. Admin. Code ch. 75-02-02.1, Medicaid Eligibility, Department of Health and Human Services

The source above was retrieved and read against the state text on August 27, 2026. Every quotation on this page was checked against those bytes.