Utilization Of Special Needs Trusts For Disabled Loved Ones

Abstract

This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of using special needs trusts in order to provide assurance that families’ loved ones will be able to maintain a satisfactory standard of living while still remaining qualified for certain “needs based” government assistance programs, such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Legal and/or accounting professionals should be consulted to insure that appropriate decisions are made. As of September of 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 32.5 million Americans, or just over 11.5 percent of the population, live with some form of severe disability. Understandably, families of these disabled individuals often find themselves searching for a way to ensure that their loved one will be provided for, particularly when they are no longer around to support them. Increasingly, these families are turning to special needs trusts in order to provide assurance that their loved one will be able to maintain a satisfactory standard of living. Many considerations, however, must be made by such families in determining if a special needs trust is suitable for their needs. Extensive laws and regulations applicable to special needs trusts may make them less desirable options or preclude a family from taking advantage of them all together. This paper will examine special needs trusts, the advantages and disadvantages of such trusts, and the alternative approaches that may be taken when a special needs trust is found to be unsuitable.