means test 
noun
An official investigation into a person’s financial circumstances to determine their eligibility for state assistance: there is no need to apply a means test to applicants for council houses...
- The new law uses a means test to determine ability to continue paying debts over an extended period of time.
- The proposed law would require a means test to determine whether a consumer can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which liquidates assets and eliminates debt, or a Chapter 13, which requires a repayment plan.
- The Bankruptcy Act will implement a means test to determine ability to shell out at least a portion of arrears.
verb
1 (means-test) [with object] (usually as adjective means-tested) Make (a state benefit) conditional on a means test: means-tested benefits...
- Also, anyone who has savings of between £3,000 and £8,000 will have their means-tested benefits reduced on a sliding scale.
- All means-tested benefits combined would reduce the poverty rate by another 2.9 percentage points.
- If you have a low income you may be entitled to means-tested benefits which could top up your income.
1.1Subject (someone) to a means test: her mother had been means-tested in the late twenties...
- The government will be means-testing half the entire pensioner population.