Special Needs Trust: What are our options?

If you are looking to help a loved one with a disability, Special Needs Trusts help families address those specific legal needs.  Creating these trusts will include addressing not only the financial needs of a disabled loved one in the future, but providing for their needs without affecting government benefits that they may depend on, such as Medicaid and SSI. A disabled loved one could end up losing their government benefits without the proper planning in the event that they receive an inheritance, which may force them into court.

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There are different types of Special Needs Trusts, including:

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• “First Party” Trust – when a “first party” trust is created, you are placing assets into a trust that belong to an individual with a disability who is also the beneficiary of the trust. This type of trust can only be established by a competent beneficiary, parent, grandparent, guardian, or Court. The beneficiary must be under the age of 65 at the time the trust is created.
   

• “Third Party” Trust – when a “third party” trust is created, you are placing assets that belong to a person other than the individual with a disability into a trust for that individual’s benefit. This type of trust can be created by anyone except the person with the disability.
   

• Pooled Trust – A pooled trust places assets into a pool of investments with other disabled or elderly individuals and asking a nonprofit organization professional trustee (nonprofit organization) to manage the
  assets for you.
   

Our firm has special needs attorneys that can help ensure that the legal requirements and administration of the trusts are executed properly.

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Contact us via email at info@quinnestatelaw.com or by phone at 636-394-7242 for immediate assistance and to schedule your free one (1) hour consultation today to see how we can help with your family’s goals