Trust Special Needs

Depending on a family's situation, it may be possible to set up one special needs trust with multiple beneficiaries in order to avoid unnecessary complications in an already stressful situation.

Special needs trust are trusts designed to improve the quality of life of a person with special needs, without affecting that person's eligibility for government benefits. To be effective, a special needs trust must be irrevocable.

A special needs trust is a trust tailored to a person with special needs that is designed to manage assets for that person's benefit while not compromising access to important government benefits. There are three main types of special needs trusts: the first-party trust, the third-party trust, and the pooled trust.

All first-party SNTs must be irrevocable. A third-party SNT can be either irrevocable or revocable. Revocable A revocable trust is a trust in which the grantor can revoke or change the trust terms at any time. Only third-party SNTs can be revocable.

Simply put, it's a way to save money on your tax bill. An irrevocable trust may also limit your estate's vulnerability to creditors. If you die with debt, your assets can be sold off to creditors to pay it off. If you want to pass along your estate to your heirs, like your children, an irrevocable trust might help.

Special Needs Trusts are typically irrevocable, which means that they cannot be revoked and can only be amended in very limited circumstances, if at all. These trusts are usually in place for the lifetime of the Beneficiary, and over such a long time, various circumstances invariably change.

Special needs trusts pay for comforts and luxuries -- "special needs" -- that could not be paid for by public assistance funds. This means that if money from the trust is used for food or shelter costs on a regular basis or distributed directly to the beneficiary, such payments will count as income to the beneficiary.

In general, trust structures are intended to provide a legal way to title and hold assets to be used to support one or more beneficiaries. Special needs trusts are similar and are used to benefit someone who has physical or mental disabilities.

Failure to set up a special needs trust might affect them, even if not as much as another person who receives, say, SSI and Medicaid. Even someone receiving Medicare will have some effect from having a higher income.