Special Needs Trust Law


Special Needs Trust Law





Estate and Trust Law Firms
A Special Needs Trust is a trust set up to provide for disabled people’s extra and supplemental needs, other than basic food, shelter and health care expenses that may be covered by public assistance benefits that the beneficiary may be entitled to receive under various programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid.

Special Needs Trusts - US

  • ABA - Financial Planning - Special Needs Trusts

    Much has changed in the emerging area of planning for the disabled. Law schools now routinely offer courses that address the numerous specialized needs of people who are disabled. As a consequence, the number of lawyers focusing on elder law, disability planning, and government benefits planning has increased dramatically.

  • Income and Estate Tax Planning for Special Needs Trusts

    There are many legal, tax and personal issues to be addressed in establishing the trust's terms; the tax adviser must anticipate the income and estate tax consequences.

  • Social Security Laws

    Social Security Program Rules Home Page, it contains the full text of the Social Security Act, as amended, and selected provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

  • Social Security Recent Legislation

    The Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs (ODCLRA) serves as the focal point for all legislative activity in SSA. This page has been designed to provide visitors to our website with accurate, useful, and current information about SSA's legislative program, legislative research, and other matters pertaining to the flow of information between SSA and Congress.

  • Special Needs Estate Planning

    A Trust is a legal document containing instructions directing the management and distribution of the resources placed in the Trust. The person creating or funding the Trust is the Grantor. The person who receives the benefit or on whose behalf the Trust was created is the Beneficiary. The Grantor appoints a Trustee, which is a person or entity (such as a bank) that will manage the Trust and distribute the Trust’s funds for the benefit of the Beneficiary. Trusts are used for a variety of purposes in estate planning.

  • Special Needs or Supplemental Needs Trusts

    A special needs trust- sometimes called a "supplemental needs trust"- provides for the needs of a disabled person without disqualifying him or her from benefits received from government programs such as Social Security and Medicaid. A special needs trust makes it possible to appoint a trustee to maintain assets and retain or qualify for public assistance benefits.

  • Special Needs Trust - Definition

    A special needs trust is created to ensure that beneficiaries who are disabled or mentally ill can enjoy the use of property which is intended to be held for their benefit. In addition to personal planning reasons for such a trust (the person may lack the mental capacity to handle their financial affairs) there may be fiscal advantages to the use of a trust. Such trusts may also avoid beneficiaries losing access to essential government benefits.

  • US Code - Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets

    Under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A), a Disabled Individual’s Trust will not be counted as a Medicaid asset even when it is funded with the applicant’s own assets.

Organizations Related to Special Needs Trusts

  • Academy of Special Needs Planners

    The purpose of the Academy of Special Needs Planners is to assist special needs attorneys in providing the highest quality service and advice to individuals with special needs and to their families. In addition to providing its member attorneys with up-to-date information on legal developments nationwide and a forum for exchanging best practices, the Academy provides information to consumers through this web site and its monthly e-mail newsletter.

  • Center for Special Needs Trust Administration, Inc.

    Because Special Needs Trusts protect eligibility for public assistance programs such as SSI and Medicaid, they present very special and unique administrative problems. The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration, Inc. (the Center) is a Florida not-for-profit corporation that offers a special solution to this problem by offering specialized administrative services for Special Needs Trusts.

  • Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities

    The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities is a Coalition of national consumer, advocacy, provider and professional organizations headquartered in Washington, D.C. Since 1973, the CCD has advocated on behalf of people of all ages with physical and mental disabilities and their families. CCD has worked to achieve federal legislation and regulations that assure that the 54 million children and adults with disabilities are fully integrated into the mainstream of society.

  • Disability Rights Advocates

    DRA is a non-profit legal center whose mission is to ensure dignity, equality, and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities throughout the United States and worldwide.

  • National Special Needs Network

    The National Special Needs Network is a coast-to-coast affiliation of independent Special Needs Professionals dedicated to providing the finest and most complete special needs support services in America.

  • Special Needs Alliance (SNA)

    The Special Needs Alliance (SNA) is a national, not for profit organization of attorneys dedicated to the practice of disability and public benefits law. Individuals with disabilities, their families and their advisors rely on the SNA to connect them with nearby attorneys who focus their practices in the disability law arena.

Articles on HG.org Related to Special Needs Trusts

  • Estate Planning with an Existing Disability
    Experts frequently advise adults to create an estate plan early on in order to have their life and financial plans arranged in the event that they become disabled. But they do not often recognize the obstacles of those who are already suffering from a disability.
  • Accrued Property Transfer Tax May Apparently Still Be Immediately Tax Deductible - Germany
    Up to now, it was not clear from a tax law perspective whether accrued property transfer tax constitutes incidental acquisition costs or an expense that is immediately tax deductible when there is a change to the composition of partners.
  • Estate Planning for the Elderly
    Estate planning is a complex process that requires strict attention to detail.
  • Estate Planning for the Modern Family
    In a time when the traditional nuclear family has shifted to a more complex structure with multiple marriages, step-children, half-children, common law marriages and cohabitation, and same-sex couples, keeping an estate plan up to date with life's constant changes can be a challenge.
  • EU Commission Follows through and Fines Microsoft
    For over a year, Microsoft has been under the watch of the EU Commission regarding a perceived breach in EU competition law due to their “Windows” operating system being shipped with a pre-loaded internet browser.
  • Who Can Start a Private Foundation?
    When you are evaluating your financial position as you plan your estate you may well find that you have the means to set aside resources for the benefit of charitable organizations.
  • Heir Is Likely To Be Liable For Claims Arising From A Tenancy Of The Testator Only To A Limit
    If claims arising from a tenancy still exist against the testator after the devolution of the inheritance, then the heir is potentially only liable insofar as these can be covered by the estate.
  • Protecting Your Assets through Trust Formation - Cyprus
    High-net-worth individuals with valuable possessions around the globe need effective asset protection tools to manage and safeguard their wealth, as a respond to the differing legislations and tax regulations of the various jurisdictions.
  • Google Survives US Investigations – EU Investigates Further
    The software giant Google has recently come under scrutiny from both the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Union Commission for suspected anti-competitive behaviour. It was initially being suspected that Google was doctoring search results in a manner that would prejudice its competitors.
  • Inheritance Tax Trap
    Why it is Essential to include comprehensive information when you fill in Inheritance Tax forms IHT 400 and IHT 421
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