Special needs planning
A trust that leaves more than an inheritance
A gift left outright to someone who receives disability benefits can end those benefits.
Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid count what a person owns, and the limit is very low. A trust created by a parent or grandparent can hold money for a son, a daughter or a sibling without being counted as theirs, and a trustee pays for what benefits do not: dental work, a phone, a trip home, rent above what benefits cover. I draft the trust, and I help you choose a trustee and a successor, because most of these plans succeed or fail on that choice.
What the trust can pay for
Housing costs above what benefits cover
Therapies and equipment
Classes, hobbies and travel
Visits with family
A funeral, when the time comes
What decides a plan
Three decisions in every special needs trust
The documents are the easy part. These are the choices that take a conversation.
- 01
Who is the trustee?
The person who pays the bills from the trust needs to be organized, patient and willing to learn the benefit rules. Often it’s a sibling, a friend or a professional, with someone named after them.
- 02
Whose money goes in?
A trust funded by parents or grandparents is one kind. Money the person already owns, from a settlement or a past inheritance, is another, with its own rules and a repayment to the state at the end.
- 03
What happens afterward?
A trust names who receives what remains. I write it so a person’s later years are provided for first and the rest goes where the family would want.
Asked about special needs trusts
Can I just leave money to my brother in my will?
You can, but it may count as his and put his benefits at risk. A trust in your will, or a living trust, keeps the money from being counted while still being spent for him.
Does a trust replace a guardian?
No. A trust handles money, and guardianship is a court decision about personal choices. Many adults with disabilities need neither, or only a lighter form of support, and I’ll go through which fits.
What if my daughter already has savings?
A trust for her own money is possible, and it has different rules: a repayment to the state at her death, for one. I’ll explain which kind she needs before anything is signed.
Tell me who the plan is for
A first conversation covers the person’s age, the benefits they receive and who would help. Call, or write if you would rather start in a note.