Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: Alabama calls the protected figure the Spousal Share, and its administrative code states the test in one sentence: “The Spousal Share is the greater of the Minimum Protected Resource Amount or one-half of the total value of the married couple’s combined countable resources, not to exceed the Maximum Protected Resource Amount.” The rule deliberately does not print the floor and the ceiling. It names them as amounts “Compare the amount in Step 3 with the Maximum Protected Resource Amount (published annually by HHS).”
What Alabama actually sets out
| What the state provides | What it says |
|---|---|
| Alabama’s name for it | the Spousal Share, Ala. Admin. Code r. 560-X-25-.16 |
| The rule | “The Spousal Share is the greater of the Minimum Protected Resource Amount or one-half of the total value of the married couple’s combined countable resources, not to exceed the Maximum Protected Resource Amount.” |
| What the Spousal Share is | “(h) SPOUSAL SHARE – The set total value amount of resources protected for the community spouse.” |
| How often it is assessed | “A Spousal Assessment must be conducted at both the beginning of the first continuous period of institutionalization and at the time of application for Medicaid benefits.” |
| When everything is protected | “If the total in Step 2 is less than the Minimum Protected Resource Amount (published annually by HHS), stop here. All resources may be protected as the Spousal Share.” |
| Where the figures come from | “Compare the amount in Step 3 with the Maximum Protected Resource Amount (published annually by HHS).” |
| What is pooled first | “All the resources owned by either the institutionalized spouse or the community spouse, or both, shall be considered a countable resource available to the institutionalized spouse, except for the community spouse’s Spousal Share.” |
| The authority for all of it | “(1) The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCCA) of 1988 provides for the special treatment of income and resources of a married couple.” |
How it works in practice
- Alabama’s rule is the ordinary federal structure stated in the state’s own words, and there is no state-specific twist to hunt for. The Spousal Share is “The Spousal Share is the greater of the Minimum Protected Resource Amount or one-half of the total value of the married couple’s combined countable resources, not to exceed the Maximum Protected Resource Amount.” Half, with a floor under it and a ceiling over it.
- Everything starts by pooling, and the pooling is more complete than couples expect: “All the resources owned by either the institutionalized spouse or the community spouse, or both, shall be considered a countable resource available to the institutionalized spouse, except for the community spouse’s Spousal Share.” Whose name is on the account does not decide whose resource it is at this stage. That is the single most common surprise in a first assessment.
- The assessment happens twice, not once, and the two occasions do different work: “A Spousal Assessment must be conducted at both the beginning of the first continuous period of institutionalization and at the time of application for Medicaid benefits.” The first fixes the snapshot; the second applies it to a live application. A couple who requested an early assessment and then waited will meet the same figures again.
- For couples of modest means the calculation short-circuits entirely. The rule provides that if the pooled total falls under the floor, “If the total in Step 2 is less than the Minimum Protected Resource Amount (published annually by HHS), stop here. All resources may be protected as the Spousal Share.” There is no half share to argue about, because the floor is higher than half of what they have.
- The absence of dollar figures in the rule is deliberate, and it is the reason this page does not quote any. Alabama writes that the amounts are “Compare the amount in Step 3 with the Maximum Protected Resource Amount (published annually by HHS).” Federal standards reset each January; a state rule that printed them would be wrong within a year, and Alabama chose not to print them.
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 Alabama.
What this page does not settle
- The authority is federal and the rule says so: “(1) The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCCA) of 1988 provides for the special treatment of income and resources of a married couple.” The protection for the spouse at home is a federal requirement placed on every state, not a discretionary kindness Alabama extends.
- This page reads one source: Alabama Medicaid Agency Administrative Code Rule 560-X-25-.16, Income and Resources of a Married Couple for Institutional Care. 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.
Applying the allowance takes somebody with authority to sign for the applicant, and Alabama’s power of attorney requirements cover how Alabama requires the document to be signed and whether durability is the default.
Related: Alabama’s Long-Term Care Partnership Program status; a separate, policy-based way some families protect assets alongside this spend-down allowance.
More Divorce & Surviving Spouses guides: see the full 195-page index.