Providing Compassionate Estate Planning Services to Clients and Other Family Members Seeking to Obtain Public Benefits in Westchester County
Many individuals who have disabled family members will do everything possible to protect their well-being and elevate their quality of life. However, when a person begins to age, retires, is left incapacitated, or eventually passes away, the question becomes how the individual with disabilities will receive the same standard of care. After all, there is no guarantee that the funds we leave to other family members, entrusting them with the ongoing care for the disabled individual, will continue after our lifetime. Thankfully, there are ways to look after the interests of your disabled loved ones, ensuring they have access to crucial resources while still helping them maintain eligibility for necessary public assistance programs. The sooner you create a comprehensive special needs plan, the sooner you can obtain peace of mind for the future of your loved one.
At our law firm, we help our clients understand and make informed decisions in special needs planning for the benefit of their disabled family members. We approach each case with caring, candor, competency, and constant communication, ensuring that the people who entrust us with their care can hope to achieve their goals without undue difficulties.
As your special needs planning attorneys, our legal team will review your unique circumstances and develop a tailored plan that addresses your needs, utilizing all available options to help you and your loved ones. There may be various methods for your special needs planning case, including creating a unique type of trust that provides security and access to necessary assets for the individual with disabilities after your death.
We aim to provide kind and compassionate legal services for you and yours throughout the entire process, making matters easier for everyone involved. To begin planning and drafting a comprehensive strategy for your adult loved one with disabilities, please get in touch with our law firm to request a free 30-minute consultation today.
How Do Special Needs Trusts Work?
If you have a disabled family member receiving public assistance benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid, or SSI, a special needs trust can provide additional funds that complement government benefits to improve their quality of life.
Once established, the special needs trust is operated by a designated trustee who has the responsibility and duty to decide how the disabled individual can access the trust’s assets. The trust document must be written appropriately so it can act as you intended. If you do not appropriately draft the special needs trust documentation, it’s possible that the disabled individual could lose access to necessary public benefits upon inheriting substantial assets from your estate.
When an individual with special needs turns 18, they can continue receiving needs-based benefits from government programs, while a valid special needs trust can be used for supplemental needs. Trust funds cannot be used for particular necessities that may be considered income, or they may affect SSI eligibility and eligibility for other benefits.
To learn more, contact our law office with your questions and concerns about these and other matters. We have an in-depth knowledge of these and related practice areas, making us highly qualified legal professionals capable of representing your interests.
Are There Different Types of Special Needs Trusts?
There are multiple types of special needs trusts available to interested parties in New York.
First-party special needs trusts are established by parents, grandparents, or other legal guardians using the child’s disability funds. The funds are either provided by the individual’s personal earnings, inheritance, or personal injury award settlements. First-party trusts require payback provisions, meaning the trust must repay the state for any government benefits received after the beneficiary’s death. These trusts also require annual reporting and accounting to be submitted to the state.
Third-party trusts are established by interested third parties, usually a parent, who fund the trust with their own funds. No payback provision is required in a third-party trust. Instead, upon the beneficiary’s death, the balance of the special needs trust will be distributed to other family members, including surviving siblings.
An individual may be able to look after themselves by creating a self-settled special needs trust. These types of trusts are governed by state and federal laws and are utilized to ensure the beneficiary’s ability to receive public benefits is not affected.
What Can Special Needs Trusts Be Used for in New York State?
Assets placed in special needs trusts are intended to cover additional financial expenses that government benefits may not cover. These trusts help provide financial security, essential care, and enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.
Expenses that special needs trusts can be used for include the following:
- Transportation costs
- Specific medical expenses
- Caretaker expenses
- Clothing
- Hobbies, gym memberships, and sports
- Dietary considerations
- Educational pursuits
- Household goods, such as appliances, furniture, and electronics
- Personal care products
- Vocational rehabilitation expenses
- Real estate property purchases
- Motor vehicle expenses, including car insurance and gasoline
- Music and other forms of entertainment
- Tickets for concerts, movies, and other events
- Vacation expenses
- And more
Who Can Serve as the Trustee?
Trustees are responsible for managing special needs trusts in the beneficiaries’ best interests. In New York, a trustee can be any competent adult, including a family member, a qualified institution, or a professional fiduciary. Many mothers and fathers who create special needs trusts for their disabled children decide to designate a trusted relative or family friend to serve as the trustee. However, other situations may call for naming a financial institution familiar with government benefit programs to ensure constant compliance with all rules and regulations.
There are certain considerations that you should keep in mind when designating a trustee for your special needs trust. For example, you want to ensure the trustee has a strong relationship with the intended beneficiary and is willing to act in their best interests. You also want to make sure that the designated trustee has a strong financial background with a proven track record of competent spending and investing. You should also consider someone with deep knowledge of how public assistance programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income operate.
In some circumstances, it may be advisable to name co-trustees, such as a married couple or a pair of siblings.
When to Begin Special Needs Planning?
If you have a child or dependent family member who has qualifying disabilities that render them unable to work or hold down a job, you need to create a special needs trust as part of your comprehensive estate plan. Essentially, the sooner you begin special needs planning for the future of your family, the sooner you will be able to attain some level of peace of mind that their interests will be taken care of. There is no such thing as getting started too early, but there may be such a thing as waiting until it is too late, as we never know what the future holds for us or those who depend upon us.
When you choose our legal team to represent your interests, you can rest assured that we will explore all possibilities and use our in-depth knowledge of state and federal laws to set your loved one up with a plan that suits their unique needs. In addition to drafting special needs trusts, we have extensive experience in elder law, probate, and other types of estate planning services.
To learn more, please get in touch with us to begin the attorney-client relationship today.
Contact Our New York Law Firm for a Free 30-Minute Case Evaluation Today
When you have someone in your life with special needs, you will stop at nothing to ensure that they enjoy a higher quality of life while we are still alive to provide and assist them with various concerns. However, after we are dead and gone, the future of our surviving loved ones may come into question, and individuals with special needs may lose access to necessary government benefits in certain circumstances. To help protect their access to essential benefits, we advise you to create a comprehensive estate plan that includes a special needs trust.
Our Katonah law firm has years of experience helping clients in these and other practice areas. As your lawyers, we will stay by your side and represent your interests as well as the interests of your loved ones every step of the way at an affordable rate.
To learn more about the benefits of retaining our legal services, please contact our law firm to request a free 30-minute case review today. Call us at 845-682-5572.