A Trust is a written set of instructions for managing your assets – bank accounts, financial investments, real estate and so on. In this newsletter we will be discussing Special Needs Trusts. A Special Needs Trust is designed to work for the benefit of a person with a disability, usually a son or daughter, brother or sister, or parent. It provides a set of instructions for managing assets set aside to help the disabled person without jeopardizing government benefits he or she might be receiving. These trusts are relatively inexpensive to create, and are usually once-in-a-lifetime investments.
If I already have a Trust, do I need to create a new Special Needs Trust?
No. If you have a Revocable Living Trust an Amendment can be added to include the Special Needs Trusts. A discussion with your Estate Attorney can clarify how to include this amendment into your current Trusts without having to create a whole new Trust.
I have twins with Down Syndrome, can I use one Trust for both of them?
Just as your children are exceptional so are their trusts. Each disabled individual must have his or her own Trust document. The law requires that each Special Needs Trust contain specific examples of what constitutes supplemental care for the beneficiary. No one’s needs, not even twins, are absolutely identical. This is particularly the case as people get older and their abilities change.