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A marriage partner includes the partner in a "common law" marriage as defined in state law. <br />The term "spouse" does not apply to friends, roommates, or significant others who are not <br />marriage partners. A minor who is emancipated under state law maybe designated as a spouse. <br />A cohead is an individual in the household who is equally responsible with the head of <br />household for ensuring that the family fulfills all of its responsibilities under the program, but <br />who is not a spouse. A family can have only one cohead. <br />Minors who are emancipated under state law maybe designated as a cohead. <br />Other adult means a family member, other than the head, spouse, or cohead, who is 18 years of <br />age or older. Foster adults and live-in aides are not considered other adults. <br />3-I.F. DEPENDENT [24 CFR 5.603] <br />A dependent is a family member who is under 18 years of age or a person of any age who is a <br />person with adisability or afull-time student, except that the following persons can never be <br />dependents: the head of household, spouse, cohead, foster children/adults and live-in aides. <br />Identifying each dependent in the family is important because each dependent qualifies the <br />family for a deduction from annual income as described in Chapter 6. <br />Joint Custody of Dependents <br />Dependents that are subj ect to a j oint custody arrangement will be considered a member of the <br />family, if they live with the applicant or participant family 5o percent or more of the time. <br />When more than one applicant or participant family is claiming the same dependents as family <br />members, the family with primary custody at the time of the initial examination or reexamination <br />will be able to claim the dependents. If there is a dispute about which family should claim them, <br />SARA will make the determination based on available documents such as court orders, or an IRS <br />return showing which family has claimed the child for income tax purposes. <br />3-I.G. FULL-TIME STUDENT [24 CFR 5.603; HCV GB, p. 5-29] <br />A full-time student (FTS) is a person who is attending school or vocational training on a full-time <br />basis. The time commitment or subj ect load that is needed to be full-time is defined by the <br />educational institution. <br />Identifying each FTS is important because: (1) each family member that is an FTS, other than the <br />head, spouse, or cohead, qualifies the family for a dependent deduction, and (2) the income of <br />such an FTS is treated differently from the income of other family members. <br />3-I.H. ELDERLY AND NEAR-ELDERLY PERSONS, AND ELDERLY FAMILY <br />[24 CFR 5.100 and 5.403] <br />Elderly Persons <br />An elderly person is a person who is at least 62 years of age. <br />Near-Elderly Persons <br />Anear-elderly person is a person who is 50-61 years of age. <br />Elderly Family <br />Page 3 -4 <br />~~02~2012 <br />