Subdivision 1.Eligibility when there is court-ordered custody.

The language of a court order that specifies joint legal or physical custody does not preclude a determination that a parent is absent. Absence must be determined based on the actual facts of the absence according to paragraphs (a) to (c).

Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 256J.15

  • Agency: has the meaning given in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Home: means the primary place of residence used by a person as the base for day-to-day living and does not include locations used as mail drops. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Income: means cash or in-kind benefit, whether earned or unearned, received by or available to an applicant or participant that is not property under section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Majority: means with respect to an individual the period of time after the individual reaches the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
  • MFIP: means the assistance program authorized in this chapter. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Minor: means an individual under the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
  • Minor child: means a child who is living in the same home of a parent or other caregiver, is not the parent of a child in the home, and is either less than 18 years of age or is under the age of 19 years and is a full-time student in a secondary school or pursuing a full-time secondary level course of vocational or technical training designed to fit students for gainful employment. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and "year" is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Parent: means a child's biological or adoptive parent who is legally obligated to support that child. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Payment month: means the calendar month for which the assistance payment is paid. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08
  • Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
  • Significant change: means a decline in gross income of the amount of the disregard as defined in section 256P. See Minnesota Statutes 256J.08

(a) When a minor child spends time in each of the parents’ homes within a payment month, the minor child’s home shall be considered the home in which the majority of the minor child’s time is spent. When this time is exactly equal within a payment month, or when the parents alternately live in the minor child’s home within a payment month, the minor child’s home shall be with that parent who is applying for MFIP, unless the minor child’s needs for the full payment month have already been met through the provision of assistance to the other parent for that month.

(b) When the physical custody of a minor child alternates between parents for periods of at least one payment month, each parent shall be eligible for assistance for any full payment months the minor child’s home is with that parent, except under the conditions in paragraph (c).

(c) When a minor child’s home is with one parent for the majority of time in each month for at least nine consecutive calendar months, and that minor child visits or vacations with the other parent under section 256J.13, the minor child’s home remains with the first parent even when the stay with the second parent is for all or the majority of the months in the period of the temporary absence.

Subd. 2.Eligibility during labor disputes.

To receive assistance when a member of an assistance unit is on strike, or when an individual identified under section 256J.37, subdivisions 1 to 2, whose income and assets must be considered when determining the unit’s eligibility is on strike, the assistance unit must have been receiving MFIP or have been eligible for MFIP on the day before the strike.

The county agency must count the striker’s prestrike earnings as current earnings. A significant change cannot be invoked when a member of an assistance unit, or an individual identified under section 256J.37, subdivisions 1 to 2, is on strike. A member of an assistance unit, or an individual identified under section 256J.37, subdivisions 1 to 2, is not considered a striker when that person is not in the bargaining unit that voted for the strike and does not cross the picket line for fear of personal injury.