What is a Special Needs Trust?
Special Needs Trusts are developed with an attorney for a person with a disability. The trusts are designed to preserve the public benefits that the adult with mental illness is entitled to receive. The provisions of the trust detail how the trust is to operate and how the funds in the trust are to be disbursed for specific, predetermined services or expenses.
A Special Needs Trust is special type of trust that can hold assets for and distribute payments for your child with Autism, while at the same time preventing him or her from being disqualified from receiving Supplemental Security Income (‘SSI’) or Medi-Cal. Although your child is named as the beneficiary of the trust, the assets are not counted as his or her ‘available resources’ because the assets are not within his or her ‘control’. That is why a person with Autism can have millions of dollars in a Special Needs Trust, and still qualify for means-tested SSI and Medi-Cal.
A Special Needs Trust or Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT) is a Trust designed to “Supplement” the assets of a person receiving government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. Some of these services and expenses that can be paid for by the SNT include out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses, annual independent check-ups, insurance (including payment of premiums), essential dietary needs and a personal care attendant. There are many complex issues involved in establishing the particular Supplemental Needs Trust that best suits a client’s plan. The Law Office of David K. Whitlock will assist you in establishing a SNT to suit your needs. There are several reasons a Special Needs Trust might be appropriate. Below are 3 circumstances where a SNT might prove beneficial: • In New Jersey an individual receiving SSI and/or Medicaid is only allowed to have $2,000 in assets (with some exceptions). If this person were to receive money from an inheritance or a lawsuit it
A Special Needs Trust is a trust arrangement which allows an individual with disabilities to have funds available for his or her needs without the funds counting as a financial asset for benefit eligibility purposes. Many government programs that provide income or payment for medical services and assistance to individuals with disabling conditions have strict financial eligibility limits. Without careful planning, assets received by a child or adult who is enrolled in or may be eligible for these benefit programs (such as Supplemental Security Income or state medical assistance) can jeopardize eligibility for those programs.
