Treatment of Capital by the Assistance Board Special rules for the treatment of capital were first introduced ###n connection with transitional payments in 1931. Originally transitional payments were paid under poor law conditions under which person must exhaust his resources before he can obtain relief. It was felt that this condition WSS too severe in its application to transitional payments, and the existing rule was designed to relax it while preserving the general position that a person cannot reasonably expect to be maintained at the expense o public funds and keep his capital intact.