Special needs trusts are powerful tools that safeguard public benefits and empower families to manage ongoing care. They help preserve eligibility for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income while allowing funds for education, therapy, housing, and enrichment. By design, these trusts limit asset transfer risks, reduce financial disruption, and promote stability for a loved one across generations.
A comprehensive plan coordinates funds to meet daily needs without risking disqualification. It helps preserve assets for future caregiving, supports guardians, and enables investment strategies that balance growth with protection.
Choosing our firm means working with attorneys who listen, analyze options, and tailor plans to family goals. We focus on practical steps, transparent pricing, and timelines that fit busy lives, helping clients feel confident about the path ahead.
We provide ongoing support, document reviews, and compliance checks to help families navigate changes in laws, healthcare, and guardianship arrangements with responsive guidance at regular intervals.
A Special Needs Trust is a legal account that holds funds for a beneficiary without counting assets toward means-tested benefits. It must meet legal criteria to preserve eligibility for government programs while enabling supplemental purchases for education, therapy, and enrichment. Management may be by a professional or trusted family member under fiduciary duties. A trustee manages distributions, adheres to rules, and coordinates with care providers and guardians. The goal is to improve quality of life without interfering with government benefits or triggering penalties.
Funding a Special Needs Trust can involve cash gifts, inheritances, settlement proceeds, life insurance proceeds, and certain assets transferred from a caregiver’s estate. Proper sequencing and documentation are essential to avoid disqualification of benefits. A fiduciary assists with ownership changes and ongoing administration, ensuring funds support care while staying within program rules, reporting requirements, and preferred timelines for distributions to minimize tax exposure overall.
The trustee can be a family member, a friend, or a professional fiduciary. The key is trustworthiness, financial acumen, and willingness to fulfill long-term duties with patience and impartiality and diligence. We help clients evaluate options and select a suitable trustee.
Costs vary by complexity, region, and whether a attorney drafts the documents or a paralegal handles routine tasks. We provide transparent pricing and explain what’s included so families can plan without surprise charges. We offer an initial consultation to outline estimated fees and timelines, and we discuss flexible payment options, ensuring families understand value and make informed decisions before committing to a plan.
Most Special Needs Trusts are irrevocable once funded for the beneficiary, protecting assets and benefits. However, provisions can allow limited amendments or discretionary updates, typically under court supervision or by a nonbeneficiary grantor, depending on the trust terms. Our firm reviews trust documents, explains amendment options, and guides families through the legal steps needed to adjust plans while maintaining eligibility and compliance, in changing circumstances, with careful consideration of beneficiary goals, tax effects, and program rules.
No. Special Needs Trusts can be created by parents, grandparents, guardians, or an individual with a disability through a self-settled or third-party trust. Each type has distinct eligibility and tax considerations. We explain who can fund and who can benefit in various family scenarios, helping you select the best structure for protection, care, and independence, while staying compliant with applicable laws.
If the beneficiary passes away, any remaining trust assets are handled according to the trust terms, often used to reimburse Medicaid or to pass to other beneficiaries, or may be distributed under specific permissible provisions. Our team explains what can and cannot be done to preserve benefits and to honor the settlor’s intent, ensuring risk is minimized for surviving family members in orderly succession and with professional guidance.
Yes, you can have multiple trustees with a lead trustee and successor trustees to share responsibilities. This arrangement can improve governance and continuity, especially in families with varied schedules or assets across different accounts. We help set role definitions, decision-making rules, and conflict resolution mechanisms to ensure smooth operation during transitions. We tailor the governance framework to your family, assets, and care plan, providing a clear path for accountability and consent.
Income tax for SNTs generally passes through to the beneficiary or to the trust itself depending on distributions. Some trusts may incur unrelated business income tax. We explain tax reporting requirements, potential deductions, and how distributions affect the beneficiary’s overall tax picture, to help families plan ahead, with clear guidance through the process and discussions with a CPA.
SNTs generally protect assets from creditors for the beneficiary, but this protection depends on the trust’s type, timing of funding, and compliance with laws, and may be subject to exceptions. We review your situation under Maryland rules and provide guidance on how to structure for maximum protection while maintaining eligibility for future planning and peace of mind through careful drafting.
