Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: Arkansas states its rule as four explicit bands rather than a formula, and it uses two terms where most states use one: “The Community Spouse Maximum Resources (CSMR – the maximum amount of resources that a CS is allowed to retain) and the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA – the amount of resources that an IS may transfer to the CS in order to give the CS the maximum allowed) are computed on Form DCO-713.” Reading CSRA the way other states use it will give you the wrong quantity.
What Arkansas actually sets out
| What the state provides | What it says |
|---|---|
| The two terms | “The Community Spouse Maximum Resources (CSMR – the maximum amount of resources that a CS is allowed to retain) and the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA – the amount of resources that an IS may transfer to the CS in order to give the CS the maximum allowed) are computed on Form DCO-713.” |
| Band 1 — at or below the minimum | “If total combined resources are equal to or less than the state minimum standard, the CS may keep all.” |
| Band 2 — up to twice the minimum | “If total combined resources are between the state minimum standard and twice the state minimum standard, the CS may keep an amount equal to the state minimum standard.” |
| Band 3 — up to twice the maximum | “If total combined resources are in an amount of twice the state standard up to twice the maximum standard, the CS may retain one-half of all resources.” |
| Band 4 — above twice the maximum | “If total combined resources are greater than twice the maximum standard, the CS may still keep only the maximum standard allowed by law.” |
| Changing the result | “The CSRA may only be changed by a hearing officer or by a court order.” |
| Where the figures live | “These amounts are subject to change by the Consumer Price Index and will be changed annually on the DCO-713. The total amount of resources that a CS is allowed to retain depends on the total amount of combined resources that a couple has and also on the current minimum state standard and the current maximum standard set by law.” |
How it works in practice
- The vocabulary is the first thing to get right, and Arkansas is explicit about it: “The Community Spouse Maximum Resources (CSMR – the maximum amount of resources that a CS is allowed to retain) and the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA – the amount of resources that an IS may transfer to the CS in order to give the CS the maximum allowed) are computed on Form DCO-713.” The CSMR is the amount the spouse at home ends up holding; the CSRA is the transfer that gets them there. A family asking about “the CSRA” and meaning the protected total is asking about the wrong line of the form.
- The rule is then stated as four bands, which is unusually legible for this area of law. First: “If total combined resources are equal to or less than the state minimum standard, the CS may keep all.” Second: “If total combined resources are between the state minimum standard and twice the state minimum standard, the CS may keep an amount equal to the state minimum standard.”
- Third, and this is the band most couples fall into: “If total combined resources are in an amount of twice the state standard up to twice the maximum standard, the CS may retain one-half of all resources.” Fourth: “If total combined resources are greater than twice the maximum standard, the CS may still keep only the maximum standard allowed by law.” The bands are keyed to twice the standards rather than to the standards themselves, which is what makes the half share come out correctly in the middle range.
- The result is not negotiable at the counter: “The CSRA may only be changed by a hearing officer or by a court order.” Those are the two routes, and neither of them is an appeal to the caseworker.
- The figures move and the manual says where they live: “These amounts are subject to change by the Consumer Price Index and will be changed annually on the DCO-713. The total amount of resources that a CS is allowed to retain depends on the total amount of combined resources that a couple has and also on the current minimum state standard and the current maximum standard set by law.” The computation itself is done on the form: “By following the instructions on the DCO-713, the CSMR, Line 2 of the form, and the CSRA, Line 4 of the form, may be computed.”
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 Arkansas.
What this page does not settle
- The section of the manual quoted here carries an internal revision date earlier than this page. Arkansas publishes the whole Medical Services Policy Manual as one document and revises sections independently, so confirm the current H-200 text and the current DCO-713 figures before relying on either.
- This page reads one source: Arkansas Department of Human Services Medical Services Policy Manual, Section H (H-200 Spousal Impoverishment), H-204 CSMR and CSRA Computation. 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
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.
Related: Arkansas’s Long-Term Care Partnership Program status; a separate, policy-based way some families protect assets alongside this spend-down allowance.