[michellederouin]

My uncle owns a small business in Michigan. He is a sole proprietor. He and his wife applied for the Bridge Card (food stamps) because they are having financial difficulties, but they were refused any benefits because the government considers all the assets in my uncle's store as his own. My question is this: if he incorporated his business, would those assets still be considered his? Or would the food stamps become available to him?

[ArcSine]

The only way to answer that one with any certainty is to look carefully at the wording, definitions, etc. the specific agency in question uses in their regulations, regarding their method of determining one's total assets for purposes of qualifying for assistance.

There's no universal standard as to how and whether the assets of an incorporated entity are to be deemed as owned by the party(ies) controlling said entity. Different agencies will have their own definitions. All that counts in this case is exactly how the agency which governs the Bridge Card program goes about assessing total assets.

One thing to watch out for: You might find that the agency wouldn't directly count assets owned by a corporation as being included in your uncle's personal assets, but then the value of the corporation's stock (which should reflect the value of the assets) would be considered a personal asset of his, as would (say) shares of Wal-Mart or IBM.

Again, best thing to do is carefully examine this agency's definitions and rules verbatim. If there are any planning opportunities which would benefit your uncle, that's where you'll uncover them.