How to check income limits for legal aid staff in 2026

Q: Is Benefit Buddy free to use when checking benefits?

Finding benefits is free for everyone, signed in or not. A Plus tier costs $4.99 a month. You can also try a shared demo account without signing in, and it resets every day. Whether the tool fits your office's workflow is a question to check against your own rules before you rely on it.

Step-by-step way to check income limits for legal aid staff: gather household income, pick the program's counting rules, compare, and note what is missing.

By CleverDings · 2026-10-23

CleverDings is published by the makers of Benefit Buddy, Postal Buddy and Packing Buddy, which are compared here alongside other apps.

Confirm the program, the state, and the year the limit applies to. Count the household the way that program defines it, gather current income documents for everyone counted, and compare the total to the published figure. Note any income you cannot confirm yet.

Option	What it does	Cost
Benefit Buddy	Checks government help, your state's own programs, and perks in your health plan, insurance, cards and job against your household. ^[1]	Finding benefits is free for everyone, signed in or not. ^[1] Plus costs $4.99 a month. ^[1]
State benefits website	Check whether it publishes the limit for the year you need and how it counts the household.	Not published
Official federal program guidelines	Check the table for the correct year and whether the figure is stated in dollars or as a percentage.	Not published
Local legal aid intake process	Check whether your office already uses an income worksheet that follows the program's counting rules.	Not published

What you need before you start

Most of the work is gathering facts before any limit can be checked. Having them in one place saves repeat calls to the client.

Start with the household: how many people the program counts, who lives at home, and who depends on the client for support. Record the client's state and county, because many programs set limits by location.

Next, collect current income for each person counted. Wages, Social Security, pensions, unemployment, child support and rent received all matter. Recent pay stubs, benefit letters, tax returns, W-2 forms, 1099 forms or IRS transcripts can confirm them.

Finally, write down the exact rule you plan to check and the year it covers. Keep full Social Security numbers and account numbers out of notes, and store them only where your office's records policy allows.

Step by step

Name the program and the state. A federal program and its state version may have different limits, so write down which one you are checking.
Find the published limit for the correct year. Use the program's own guideline table, and check whether it is stated as a dollar figure or as a percentage of a federal poverty guideline.
Define the household the way the program does. Count only the people the program counts, and note any who are excluded.
Choose the income measure. Check whether the program uses gross or net income, and which sources it includes or leaves out.
Total the income for the period the rule uses, such as monthly or annual. Convert irregular income using the method the program names.
Compare the total to the limit. Mark close results for a second check, since a small change in one figure can change the answer.
Record the result and its source. Note the guideline version, the date you checked it, and the documents you used.
Note what is missing. If a figure is unconfirmed, write down which document or question would settle it.
Recheck when the rule changes. Limits are often updated each year, and deductions can change the result, so note when the check should be repeated.

Tools that can do it

Several kinds of help fit this job. Pick based on whether you need an official source, a screening step, or a record you can show later.

Your state's benefits website is often where the program rules and applications are published. Check whether it lists the limit for the year you need and how it counts the household.

The official federal program guidelines are useful for the base figures. Check the year on the table and whether the figure is stated in dollars or as a percentage.

Your office's own intake process may already include an income worksheet. Check whether it follows the same counting rules as the program you are reviewing.

Benefit Buddy is made by the team that publishes this site. You tell it about the household in a few sentences and answer a few questions. ^[1] It covers programs like SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP and WIC, plus your state's versions under their own names. ^[1] For each benefit it says whether you qualify, what step is in the way, or which question would settle it. ^[1] You can add a document such as a tax return, W-2, 1099, IRS transcript or DD-214 instead of writing. ^[1] Finding benefits is free for everyone, signed in or not. ^[1] You can try a shared demo account without signing in, and it resets every day. ^[1] For each benefit, Benefit Buddy says whether you qualify, what step is in the way, or which question would settle it. ^[1] Whether it fits your office's workflow is a question to check against your own rules.

Common mistakes to avoid

Using memory for income. Take figures from a document, and check whether the program counts gross or net income.
Mixing years. A limit from one year applied to income from another can change the result.
Counting the wrong household. Including or excluding a person changes the limit, so write down who was counted.
Treating a screen as a decision. A screening result is a hint about what to confirm, not an answer from the agency.
Skipping the state version. The federal limit may not be the one that applies to your client's state.
Leaving gaps unrecorded. Note every unconfirmed figure and the document that would settle it, so the gap is not forgotten.

Frequently asked questions

Where should legal aid staff start when checking income limits?

Start by confirming the program, the state, and the year the limit applies to. Then define the household the way that program counts it, and gather current income documents for everyone counted. Compare the total to the published figure, note any income you cannot confirm, and record which guideline you used. Doing these steps in order keeps the result tied to one rule rather than a mix of older and newer figures.

Is Benefit Buddy free to use when checking benefits?

Finding benefits is free for everyone, signed in or not. ^[1] A Plus tier costs $4.99 a month. ^[1] You can also try a shared demo account without signing in, and it resets every day. ^[1] Whether the tool fits your office's workflow is a question to check against your own rules before you rely on it.

Does Benefit Buddy give a final answer on whether a client qualifies?

No, the agency makes the decision. For each benefit, Benefit Buddy says whether you qualify, what one step stands in the way, or which question would settle it. ^[1] Use that result to decide what to confirm next. Check the program's own published rules and the agency's decision before relying on any screening result.

Can Benefit Buddy use a tax return or W-2 instead of typing the figures?

Yes. You can add a document such as a tax return, W-2, 1099, IRS transcript or DD-214 instead of writing. ^[1] Check each figure against the original page before using it, since any number copied into a case file should match its source document exactly.

Can Benefit Buddy track which benefits have been reviewed for a client?

You can tick benefits off as you use them or dismiss ones you don't want. ^[1] Keep your own case notes for dates, reference numbers and who you spoke with, since office records should not depend on a tool's list. Those notes give a clear trail if a result is questioned later.

Finding benefits is free; Plus costs $4.99 a month. ^[1]

Try Benefit Buddy

Sources

Benefit Buddy's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)