Supplemental Special Needs Trust
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Supplemental Special Needs Trust for Disabled Family Members?
If you are responsible for taking care of a family member who will never have the capacity to take care of himself, your estate plan must address the situation. If he isn't able to handle it or if government aid or enrollment in government sponsored programs is a factor, you can make provisions to ensure that he will have the means to support his current lifestyle without giving him any money outright. To prevent a disqualification from government aid or participation in certain programs, you can also disinherit the person, but that may produce an unfair result, especially if there is an unwritten "understanding" that can simply be ignored by other beneficiaries.
A discretionary supplemental special-needs trust, or SSNT may be an essential part of your estate plan. An SSNT allows a trustee named by you to supplement whatever needs the disabled beneficiary has that are not covered by any governmental program. The SSNT is intended not to be used to provide basic food, clothing, and shelter, nor be available to the beneficiary for conversion for such items, until all local, state, and federal benefits for which the beneficiary is eligible as a result of disability have first been fully expended for such purposes.
The trustee may have the discretion to pay for quality-of-life expenditures such as:
- the cost differential between a shared room and a private room
- travel costs, especially to visit family members
- reimbursement for attendance at or participation in recreational or cultural events, conferences, seminars, or training sessions
- the cost of a companion or attendant necessary to make travel and similar activities possible
- elective medical, dental, or other health services not provided
- exercise equipment
- computer hardware and software; audio and video equipment including radios, TV, DVDs, etc.
- subscriptions to newspapers and magazines
- additional food, clothing, and other expenditures used to provide dignity, purpose, optimism, and joy to the beneficiary, such as a vacation
The payments referred to above are made directly to the providers so that they don't disqualify or interfere with government assistance.
Additional instructions may be given to the trustee (or someone the trustee designates) to visit the disabled beneficiary on a regular basis to inspect the beneficiary's living conditions and make certain evaluations, including:
- physical and dental examination by an independent physician and dentist
- an evaluation of the beneficiary's grooming and overall appearance
- an evaluation of education and training programs
- an evaluation of work opportunity and earnings
- an evaluation of recreation, leisure time, and social needs
- a determination of the appropriateness of existing residential and program services, and
- an evaluation of the legal rights to which the beneficiary may be entitled, including free public education, rehabilitation, and programs that meet constitutional minimal standards
If the SSNT is funded with the beneficiary's own funds, then it is Self Settled, and in most cases must provide that government agencies be reimbursed from any trust funds remaining when the beneficiary dies.
If you are fund the SSNT for a disabled beneficiary, it is considered a Third Party trust. Any funds remaining upon the disabled beneficiary's death are distributed to the contingent beneficiaries you designate and are not subject to claims from government agencies.
Types of Trusts We Establish:
- Revocable/Irrevocable Trust
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
- Supplemental Special Needs Trust
- Generation Skipping Trust
- Charitable Trusts
- Credit Shelter/Applicable Exclusion Amount Shelter Trust
- Pet Trust
- Estate Freeze Trust
- Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)
- Qualified Domestic Trust
- Life Partner and LGBT
