If you have a child or loved one with special needs
such as mental or physical disabilities, you may worry about what may happen to him or her in the long term. How will
things be taken care of when you are no longer able to provide and care for this vulnerable individual yourself?
How will medical and living expenses be handled? A carefully crafted Special Needs Trust may
protect your loved one and give you great peace of mind. Such a trust goes a long way to enhance quality of life for
this person.
Too many people fail to implement an effective
strategic plan for these vulnerable loved ones. The result is that loved ones with special needs are often inadvertently
disqualified from receiving benefits to which they are entitled.
Or, a faulty plan may unintentionally condemn the loved-one to be forced to subsist on public benefits when other resources
are available.
For example, while
you can certainly provide that they receive money and assets, such a bequest may prevent them from qualifying for essential
benefits under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid programs. However, public benefits provide only for
the bare necessities such as food, housing and clothing. As you can imagine, these limited benefits will not provide
those loved ones with the resources that would allow them to enjoy a richer quality of life.
When well-meaning parents simply leave assets to their child who is receiving public benefits, they run the risk of disqualifying
the child from receiving the benefits until the parents' assets are essentially exhausted. Fortunately, the
government has established rules allowing assets to be held in trust, called a "Special Needs" or "Supplemental
Needs" Trust for a recipient of SSI and Medicaid, as long as certain requirements are met.
With careful planning you can enhance the quality of life for your vulnerable
loved ones while building a safety net for them, ensuring they will not be disqualified from receiving essential benefits
available from state or federal programs.
The Van Nuys
Law Office PLLC can help you set up a Special Needs Trust so that government benefit eligibility is preserved.
At the same time the Special Needs Trust can provide assets that will meet the supplemental needs of the person with a disability
- needs that go beyond food, shelter, and clothing and the medical and long term supports and services of Medicaid. The Special
Needs Trust can cover those additional needs. In fact, the Special Needs Trust must be designed specifically to supplement
rather than replace public benefits. Parents should be aware that funds from the trust cannot be given directly to the
disabled beneficiary. Instead, the funds must be disbursed to someone else who provides goods and services for use and enjoyment
by the disabled beneficiary.
Special Needs Trusts are
a critical component of your estate planning if you have disabled beneficiaries for whom you wish to provide after your passing.
Typically, Special Needs Trusts are either stand alone trusts or they can be a sub-trust in your existing living trust.
They can be funded with any number of assets, but are commonly funded with assets like a life insurance policy. It
is important that the right person or professional is chosen to be the trustee of such as trust as the trustee is typically
given broad discretion.
The Special Needs Trust can be
used for a variety of life-enhancing expenditures without compromising your loved one's eligibility for public benefits
such as:
- Annual check-ups at an independent medical facility
- Supplemental education and tutoring
- Out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses
- A private room, rather
than shared room, in a nursing home
- Transportation (including purchase
of a vehicle)
- Maintenance of vehicles
- Purchase materials for a hobby or recreation activity
- Funds
for trips or vacations
- Funds for entertainment such as movies, shows,
concerts, or ballgames.
- Purchase of goods and services that
add pleasure and quality to life: computers, videos, furniture, or electronics.
- A paid companion who visits several times a week
- Special dietary
needs
- A personal care attendant
- Attendance of religious services
If you have a family member who is concerned about long-term care or needs nursing home care, or is seeking a will or special
needs trust, the Van Nuys Law Office PLLC is well suited to help you. We serve the greater Seattle area.