Exclude inherited payments from income if the funds:

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  were inherited from or can be traced back to an individual who received the inherited funds as payments because of his or her status as a victim of Nazi persecution;

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  were or would have been excludable under the Victims of Nazi Persecution Act for the original recipient; and

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  are identifiable as reparation payments.

For the definition of inheritance, see SI 00830.550, Inheritances. For Payments to Victims for Nazi Persecution, see SI 00830.710.

The income exclusion applies to reparation payments inherited by any individual. The individual inheriting the funds does not have to be related to the original recipient, nor does he or she have to inherit the funds directly from the original recipient. The exclusion applies to the funds as long as the SSI claimant provides evidence establishing that the criteria in SI 00830.712B.1, in this section are met.

An individual who received reparation payments died without a will. His parents and spouse predeceased him, and he had no children. Under state laws of intestate succession, his brother inherits the estate that includes $5,000 in identifiable reparation payments. Upon submission of appropriate evidence, the funds inherited by the brother are excluded from income for SSI purposes.

The original recipient of reparation payments from the German government died and left $10,000 of his conserved reparation payments to his wife in his will. When his wife died, she left the remaining $6,000 of conserved reparation payments to their daughter, who is an SSI recipient. Upon submission of appropriate evidence, the income exclusion can apply to the funds inherited by the daughter.

An individual alleges that he received an inheritance from his father that included $8,000 of Nazi reparation payments paid to his grandfather and inherited by his father. He establishes that his grandfather received payment because of his status as a victim of Nazi persecution. However, his father had commingled the payments with regular funds in his savings account, of which other money had passed in and out for 20 years. The individual is unable to establish that the funds are identifiable as reparation payments. The $8,000 is income to the individual in the month of receipt, and any unspent funds count as a resource the following month.

Follow these steps if an individual alleges he or she inherited funds that include reparation payments originally made to a victim of Nazi persecution:

Obtain the claimant's statement either signed or recorded on a Report of Contact (DROC) as to the date(s) and amount(s) of any inherited funds corresponding to the payments originally made to the victim of Nazi persecution. Exclude the identifiable payments from countable income.

An SSI claimant inherited a bank account containing $30,000 from her father, whom she alleges was a victim of Nazi persecution. She provides a copy of her father's will which states that the bank account contains his pension payments from the German government. She also provides a copy of a letter from the German government indicating the monthly payment amount and that the payments include pension credits received for the period he was subjected to persecution. Exclude the inherited funds from the SSI recipient's income.