Category Archives: Special Needs Trust

A special needs trust, also referred to as a supplemental needs trust enables individuals to set a particular portion of their estate aside for their loved ones with special needs. The creator of the trust doesn’t need to transfer any sort of funds or assets directly to the recipient. Instead, they create and leave a legalized trust for them.
Parents and caregivers who are actively looking for ways to secure the future of their children with special needs that can greatly benefit from this resource. This trust allows them to hold their assets for a disabled beneficiary to use in their time of need. Moreover, this trust doesn’t interfere with the process of need-based government benefits that the recipient may be qualified to receive.
A special needs trust also ensures that the recipient doesn’t lose any required services because of being incapable of fulfilling particular income conditions. There are three main types of SNTs; first party SNT, third party SNT and pooled trusts.
The first type is funded by the beneficiary’s personal assets. This type of trust is created to protect the current as well as the future benefits of the disabled recipient when they are about to receive inheritance, settlement or any other monetary gifts that would cause their countable assets to cross the benefit limit.
The third party SNTs is funded by the friends, family members or parents of the disabled individual. Lastly, the pooled trusts are funded by the beneficiary themselves when they are over 65 years old. Pooled trusts are preferred when the recipient doesn’t have any immediate family member that they can appoint as a trustee.
Read these articles to understand the process of selecting the right type of SNT, and appointing a trustee and an advocate. Furthermore, you can learn all the basics of SNT such as how it works, how to place money in it, whether you require an estate planning attorney to go about the process and more.