Updated August 27, 2026. Quick answer: South Carolina does not run the half-of-resources calculation that consumer guides describe. Its manual instructs the worker to “• Subtract the spouse’s share of $66,480. • After the spousal share is subtracted from the couple’s total countable resources, the remainder must meet the individual resource limit.” The share is a flat state figure that does not move with the size of the couple’s estate, so a couple with $120,000 and a couple with $400,000 protect the same amount.
What South Carolina actually sets out
| What the state provides | What it says |
|---|---|
| What the worker subtracts | “• Subtract the spouse’s share of $66,480. • After the spousal share is subtracted from the couple’s total countable resources, the remainder must meet the individual resource limit.” |
| What the applicant may keep | “The individual resource limit is $2,000 (or $9,950 if the individual can qualify under ABD criteria.)” |
| Which form runs the calculation | “Procedure to Consider Spousal Resources The DHHS Form 929, Community Spouse Worksheet, is used to calculate the couple’s total resources and the spousal share. • Apply all exclusions to both spouses. • Total the couple’s countable resources. • Subtract the spouse’s share of $66,480. • After the spousal share is subtracted from the couple’s total countable resources, the remainder must meet the individual resource limit.” |
| When both spouses are counted | “01/01/26) At the initial eligibility determination, the resources of both the institutional and community spouse must be considered.” |
| Separating the share afterwards | “If eligibility is established, the spousal share must be separated from the institutionalized spouse’s resources within 30 days of the case’s approval.” |
How it works in practice
- The flat share is the whole difference between South Carolina and the states around it, and it cuts both ways. A federal-style half calculation protects half of a couple’s countable resources between a floor and a ceiling, so a wealthier couple protects more. South Carolina’s manual instead directs the worker to “• Subtract the spouse’s share of $66,480. • After the spousal share is subtracted from the couple’s total countable resources, the remainder must meet the individual resource limit.” For a couple whose countable resources are modest, the flat figure is more generous than half would be; for a couple well above it, it is markedly less.
- The applicant’s own limit has two values, and the larger one is easy to miss: “The individual resource limit is $2,000 (or $9,950 if the individual can qualify under ABD criteria.)”. The manual works three examples in which the ABD limit is what decides the case, so a couple told they are a few thousand dollars over should establish which limit is being applied to them before they spend anything down.
- The calculation is done on a named form rather than in free text: “Procedure to Consider Spousal Resources The DHHS Form 929, Community Spouse Worksheet, is used to calculate the couple’s total resources and the spousal share. • Apply all exclusions to both spouses. • Total the couple’s countable resources. • Subtract the spouse’s share of $66,480. • After the spousal share is subtracted from the couple’s total countable resources, the remainder must meet the individual resource limit.” Asking which form was used, and asking for a copy of it, is the most direct way to see how a decision was reached.
- Both spouses’ resources are in scope at the start — “01/01/26) At the initial eligibility determination, the resources of both the institutional and community spouse must be considered.” The share is separated only afterwards, and there is a deadline on it: “If eligibility is established, the spousal share must be separated from the institutionalized spouse’s resources within 30 days of the case’s approval.”
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 South Carolina.
What this page does not settle
- The $66,480 figure is the one the manual carried at the effective date shown on its own section heading. It is a state figure rather than a federal one, so it does not necessarily move when the federal minimum and maximum reset each January. Check the current manual before relying on the number rather than the method.
- This page reads one source: South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 300, MPPM 304.14 Spousal Impoverishment and Resources (effective 01/01/26). 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: South Carolina’s Long-Term Care Partnership Program status; a separate, policy-based way some families protect assets alongside this spend-down allowance.