DHS 3340 Asset Assessment Minnesota: What the Form Asks and How to Prepare

What the Asset Assessment Does

When one spouse in a married couple needs long-term care and the other will continue living at home, Minnesota requires a formal asset assessment to divide the couple's resources. The DHS-3340 (sometimes referenced as the Asset Assessment Determination form) is the county's tool for documenting this snapshot.

The assessment establishes the Community Spouse Resource Allowance — the amount of the couple's combined countable assets the community spouse is allowed to keep. Everything above that allowance, plus the applicant's individual $3,000 limit, must be spent down before the long-term care spouse qualifies for Medical Assistance.

When to Request It

The asset assessment uses the couple's financial picture on a specific date: the first day of a continuous period of institutionalization or waiver services lasting at least 30 consecutive days. This is called the "snapshot date."

You can (and should) request the assessment as soon as the long-term care spouse enters a nursing facility or begins receiving Elderly Waiver services. The county evaluates what the couple owned on that first day, not when the form is submitted.

Timing matters because asset values fluctuate. If the couple had $300,000 in combined assets on the snapshot date but the stock market dropped and they have $260,000 by the time the county processes the form, the county still uses the snapshot-date figure. The assessment locks in the higher number, which means a higher Community Spouse Resource Allowance.

Request the assessment proactively — don't wait for the county to offer it. Some counties don't mention it unless you ask, and families who skip it lose the legal protection of a documented, dated asset division.

What the Form Asks For

The DHS-3340 captures a comprehensive inventory of the couple's combined resources as of the snapshot date. Expect to document:

Bank accounts and cash: Checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The county will verify these through the electronic Account Validation Service (AVS), which pulls account data directly from financial institutions. Provide statements showing the balance on the snapshot date, not the current balance.

Investment accounts: Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, brokerage accounts. Include the date-specific statement showing holdings and values.

Retirement accounts: IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions. Include statements and account details so the county can determine how each account is treated in the asset assessment.

Life insurance: Include each policy's face value, cash-value information, and policy statements so the county can determine how it is treated.

Real property: Any real estate beyond the primary homestead — rental properties, vacant land, a cabin. The primary homestead is excluded if a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age resides there. If it is unoccupied, it is excluded only if the applicant intends to return and equity is below the 2026 limit of $752,000; the county still documents it.

Vehicles: One vehicle per household is exempt regardless of value if it is used for transportation of the applicant or a household member. Additional vehicles are countable at fair market value.

Burial funds: Irrevocable prepaid burial contracts are excluded up to $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. Up to $1,500 in designated burial funds may also be excluded.

How the CSRA Is Calculated

Once the county tallies the couple's total countable assets from the DHS-3340, the Community Spouse Resource Allowance is calculated by dividing the total in half, then comparing that to the federal maximum:

• Total countable assets of $200,000: Half is $100,000. This is below the 2026 federal maximum of $162,660, so the community spouse keeps $100,000.
• Total countable assets of $400,000: Half is $200,000. This exceeds the federal maximum, so the community spouse keeps $162,660.
• Total countable assets of $60,000: Half is $30,000. The community spouse keeps $30,000.

Minnesota uses a "no minimum" standard, meaning there's no guaranteed floor for the CSRA. In states with a minimum (typically around $32,000), the community spouse is guaranteed at least that amount regardless of how the math works out. Minnesota doesn't provide that safety net, which makes the asset assessment even more important — every dollar documented on the snapshot date affects the calculation.

Common Mistakes

Submitting current balances instead of snapshot-date balances. The county needs to see what the couple owned on the first day of continuous care. If you provide a bank statement from three months later showing a lower balance (because you've been paying private-pay nursing home bills), you're shortchanging the community spouse's allowance.

Forgetting to include the long-term care spouse's assets. Both spouses' assets are pooled for the calculation. If the long-term care spouse has a separate savings account or a small brokerage account, it must be on the form.

Not requesting the assessment at all. Without a formal assessment, the county may apply default assumptions that are less favorable. The documented assessment creates a legally defensible record of the community spouse's allowance.

Missing the retitling deadline. After the assessment, any assets allocated to the community spouse must be retitled solely into their name before the long-term care spouse's first annual eligibility renewal. Assets still in the long-term care spouse's name at renewal are counted against their $3,000 individual limit.

Next Steps

Gather every financial statement dated as close to the snapshot date as possible. If you don't have the exact date's statement, request it from the financial institution — most can provide historical balance confirmations.

The Minnesota Medicaid Long-Term Care Guide includes a complete asset assessment preparation checklist and a spousal asset worksheet that walks through the CSRA calculation with your family's actual numbers.

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