Special Needs Trusts – Protecting a Disabled Person’s Benefits

Excerpt from: FLB Law (click for full article)

 

Special Needs Trusts are important estate planning tools which should be considered by all families where a member of the family is receiving, or may be eligible to receive, Medical Assistance (also known as MA or Medicaid), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and/or Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MH/MR) benefits.  A Special Needs Trust allows the disabled person to continue to receive the above benefits, whereas if the disabled person were to own the assets that are in the trust outright in his or her individual name, such benefits would be taken away (if the disabled person was already receiving the benefits) or the disabled person would not be eligible to receive the benefits in the first place (if the disabled person applied for the benefits while already owning assets in excess of a specific amount allowed under the law).