BRESSON
Law Offices, PLLC
Experience You Can Trust
Law Offices, PLLC
Experience You Can Trust
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Special Needs Trust
Services
- Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning
- Long-Term Care and Medicaid Planning
- Probate & Estate Administration
- Special Needs Trusts
- Guardianships
- Trust Administration
Contact Me
Please contact me at the Bresson Law Offices, PLLC of Spokane, Washington to schedule a consultation.
A typical estate plan will distribute your property to surviving loved ones and favorite charities. If your children are adults, you may choose to leave funds to them outright. If they are minor children, their funds may go into a trust with payouts at specified ages.
What if your child, spouse, parent, or other beneficiary suffers from a severe mental or physical disability? What if the loved one is chronically ill and cannot manage his or her affairs?
Providing for your Disabled or Chronically Ill Child, Spouse, Parent, or Other Beneficiary
People with disabilities are not eligible for certain government assistance programs, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), if they own assets or have income above certain limits. Someone who is receiving benefits, who then receives an inheritance, may lose his or her eligibility. That inheritance would then be the sole source for paying the health care and living assistance until the fund is exhausted. At that point, government assistance would again pay for the needed care.
Parents, a spouse, or other person can provide for their loved ones by including a special needs trust in their will. Unlike a standard trust, which can be considered the property of the disable person, Medicaid and Social Security do not consider a disabled person to be the owner of a properly drafted special needs trust. Thus, the special needs trust can provide for added treatment and comforts during the life of the disabled loved one, yet that loved one remains eligible for government benefits and assistance.
There are also special needs trust planning options available to disabled persons themselves, if they have funds of their own or expect to, say from an inheritance or personal injury settlement or award. Instead of being required to spend the funds down, a special needs trust (with a Medicaid payback provision) can be turned to one that can preserve the transferred funds for the disabled person's benefit.
The laws governing special needs trusts and their relationship to public benefit regulations are varied and complex. You will most likely need the assistance of an attorney with experience in the area. If you need help in this area, I will provide you with:
What if your child, spouse, parent, or other beneficiary suffers from a severe mental or physical disability? What if the loved one is chronically ill and cannot manage his or her affairs?
Providing for your Disabled or Chronically Ill Child, Spouse, Parent, or Other Beneficiary
People with disabilities are not eligible for certain government assistance programs, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), if they own assets or have income above certain limits. Someone who is receiving benefits, who then receives an inheritance, may lose his or her eligibility. That inheritance would then be the sole source for paying the health care and living assistance until the fund is exhausted. At that point, government assistance would again pay for the needed care.
Parents, a spouse, or other person can provide for their loved ones by including a special needs trust in their will. Unlike a standard trust, which can be considered the property of the disable person, Medicaid and Social Security do not consider a disabled person to be the owner of a properly drafted special needs trust. Thus, the special needs trust can provide for added treatment and comforts during the life of the disabled loved one, yet that loved one remains eligible for government benefits and assistance.
There are also special needs trust planning options available to disabled persons themselves, if they have funds of their own or expect to, say from an inheritance or personal injury settlement or award. Instead of being required to spend the funds down, a special needs trust (with a Medicaid payback provision) can be turned to one that can preserve the transferred funds for the disabled person's benefit.
The laws governing special needs trusts and their relationship to public benefit regulations are varied and complex. You will most likely need the assistance of an attorney with experience in the area. If you need help in this area, I will provide you with:
- Education regarding special needs trusts;
- Assessment of public benefits currently received and assets to be transferred into the special needs trust;
- Outline of steps necessary to establish the special needs trust, drafting of appropriate documents, and help with the transfer of assets to the special needs trust; and
- Assistance in the administration of the special needs trust.
