Does Your Child Struggle With a Disability or With Special Needs?

If you have a child with a disability or special needs, a special needs trust can provide that child with financial security after your death or if you should become incapacitated. A New Jersey trust attorney can prepare a special needs trust for your disabled or special needs child.

What are the advantages of preparing a special needs trust? How does a special needs trust work? How do you set one up? A special needs trust will maintain your child’s eligibility for public benefits. Without that trust, your child could become disqualified for those benefits.

If the parents of a disabled or special needs child pass away unexpectedly after setting up a special needs trust, the trust ensures that the child will be cared for properly and that the child will remain qualified for public benefits.

Why Should You Set Up a Special Needs Trust?

If your disabled or special needs child is counting on you for financial support, you should ask a New Jersey estate planning lawyer to prepare a plan that can guarantee your child will be cared for after your death or if you should become incapacitated.

If you leave cash or give it directly to your child with special needs, that money may make your child ineligible for a number of public benefits including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid.

However, when you transfer the funds into a special needs trust that has been prepared for your child by a New Jersey trust attorney, your child will be cared for without jeopardizing his or her qualifications for those benefits.

How Does a Special Needs Trust Operate?

The beneficiary of the trust – your disabled or special needs child – has no control of the funds in a special needs trust. Those assets are managed by a trustee and owned by the special needs trust itself, so they will not affect a beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits.

While you are living, you may designate yourself as the trustee of the special needs trust and manage the trust yourself, but you will also choose a successor trustee who will oversee the trust after your death and supervise the spending for your disabled or special needs child.

If your special needs child is still a minor, you should designate a guardian for your child in case you and the child’s other parent unexpectedly pass away. If you haven’t chosen a guardian for your special needs child, the court will name one at that time, but that decision should be yours.

What Must Be Considered When You Set Up a Special Needs Trust?

You must adhere to some precise rules and regulations when you and your trust attorney set up your special needs trust. Here is what must be considered:

1. The wording of a special needs trust document must be precise. Convey clearly that the trust is for the “supplemental and extra care” of your special needs child beyond what public benefits provide.
2. A special needs trust will not provide cash directly to your special needs child. Instead, your trustee will use the trust assets to pay, for example, for medical expenses not paid by other benefits, for transportation providers, and for other important expenses.
3. Special needs trusts are irrevocable trusts. A special needs trust may not be canceled or changed without court approval. The funds in a special needs trust are not subject to liens, cannot be seized by creditors, and cannot be lost through a lawsuit.

Should Your Family’s Special Needs Trust Be Pooled?

When a special needs trust is a “pooled” trust, a non-profit organization rather than an individual is designated as the trustee. To increase investment returns, the organization “pools” and then invests funds from different trusts.

Non-profits that are the trustees of special needs trusts keep each individual account separate and assign acting trustees to work with the beneficiaries. When your trust is pooled, your special needs child will be appropriately cared for and will remain eligible for public benefits.

If you’re considering a pooled special needs trust for your disabled or special needs child, you will need to discuss the details with your New Jersey estate planning lawyer.

What Else Will Your Trust Attorney Do for You and Your Family?

For many in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a special needs trust for a loved one is part of their family’s comprehensive estate plan. That plan may also include other trusts, a last will and testament, an advance medical directive or living will, and a financial power of attorney.

Whether you set up a single special needs trust or a comprehensive estate plan, you’ll need personalized advice. The right attorney will see to it that your special needs trust is easily understood, that nothing is overlooked, and that you consider your options carefully.

Every family can benefit from thoughtful estate planning, and if you have a special needs child or others who rely on you, comprehensive estate planning can ensure that your family members will have financial security after you pass away or if you should become incapacitated.

Why Should You Choose Bratton Law Group?

No one can know what may happen tomorrow, but you can prepare for the future with the right planning. A special needs trust attorney at the award-winning Bratton Law Group can help you set up a special needs trust for your child and answer all of your estate planning questions.

At Bratton Law Group, we protect what matters most to you, and before we advise, we listen. We explain your planning options and recommend the choices that are in your family’s best long-term interests. We serve families throughout New Jersey as well as the greater Philadelphia area.

To find out more about setting up a special needs trust – or about any aspect of estate planning – call the offices of Bratton Law Group at 856-770-2744. We offer sound planning advice, and we’ll prepare a special needs trust and the other estate planning documents you may need.