Parents of disabled children face a lot of struggles. Often providing ongoing care for a disabled child is overwhelming, involving various doctors and other care providers, not to mention working with teachers and therapists, and IEP meetings and more. And somewhere back in the parents mind is the thought – who will do what I’m doing when I’m gone? Wonder no more when you create a Special Needs Trust.
Government Benefits Eligibility
An adult with a disability is probably receiving critical assistance from a variety of government programs, including SSI and Medicaid (Medi-Cal here in California). If a disabled child received more than $2,000 in an inheritance, he or she would be disqualified from further assistance until their resources got below $2,000 again, at which point they would have to reapply. In order to avoid disqualifying a child from SSI and Medicaid benefits, a Special Needs Trust is created. This gives the disabled child their inheritance, allowing that money to provide for things not otherwise covered. The trust is set up to provide these benefits, and puts the person you choose in charge of managing the money for the child’s benefit.
Decision Making – It Can Be A Team
After taking care of protecting the eligibility for needed benefits, the next question is who will control the money? Who will provide the care and support the child needs? The reality is that for most special needs individuals, there is an involved team supporting them and providing the resources they need. What the team needs is a quarterback, and what the quarterback needs is a team. To set your successor trustee up for success, he or she will need to know who is on the team, and what they’re bringing to the table. Creating a trust for a special needs child requires a plan that complies with complex federal and state laws. You’ll want to work with an experienced attorney to guide you through the process. When completed, the Special Needs Trust will provide for vastly superior care options and opportunities for treatment and rehabilitation, housing, electronic equipment, computers, job training, vacations and more. Image courtesy of njaj at FreeDigitalPhotos.net