Providing For Family Members’ or Loved Ones’ Special Needs or Education

Special Needs Trusts

Do you want to provide for a family member or loved one with special needs or a disability?  We can help.  Setting up a special needs or supplemental needs trust is a great way to help provide for a beneficiary without disqualifying them from receiving other benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.

You’ll need a trustee who will govern how the trust assets are spent.  Because the beneficiary doesn’t control the trust’s assets, the assets won’t affect the beneficiary’s SSI and Medicaid eligibility.  The trustee can’t give money directly to the beneficiary but can use it to pay for a wide variety of expenses, including medical bills, rehabilitation, personal care needs, vehicles, and home furnishings.

It’s especially important to involve a lawyer if the special needs trust will be set up using the beneficiary’s own money, for example, from the settlement of a personal injury lawsuit.

Educational Trusts

We can also help you set up an educational trust to provide for a loved one’s education.  Just like with other trusts, you’ll need a trustee who will govern how to spend the trust’s funds according to the terms of the trust.

When setting up an educational trust, there are many important things to consider, including when the trust will take effect, who will be the beneficiary (or beneficiaries), what type of education will be paid for, and how the trust will end.