Parents who have children with disabilities must take extra planning steps to ensure their child would be taken care of in their absence–most importantly, if the parents become incapacitated or pass away. Creating a special needs trust is often a necessary step in ensuring continuity of care and making sure your loved one is positioned to receive the financial benefits that he or she needs to cover living expenses. A special needs trust is a complex legal document, but your Tampa special needs lawyer will walk you through three simple steps to help you complete the process. They are as follows:
Step 1: Work with Your Lawyer to Create Your Special Needs Trust
While the concept of a special needs trust is the same for all families, the specifics of your trust will be tailored toward your family’s goals and your child’s unique care needs. One goal that your attorney will help you achieve is making sure that any assets and property left to your child will be held in the name of the trust and not given to the child outright if something happens to mom or dad. Otherwise, ownership of those assets can disqualify them from needs-based benefits (like SSI or Medicaid) and make it much harder to receive necessary care and enjoy a nice quality of life. The trust will also contain detailed instructions that will serve to educate and guide your chosen trustee as to how you want your child to be cared for in your absence.
Step 2: Fund the Trust
A special needs trust must be funded with assets or property once it is signed for it to come into effect. This can happen immediately, or the trust can be funded by a Last Will and Testament at the time of your death. An experienced special needs attorney will review both options with you and help you choose which one works best for your situation. The assets and property held within the special needs trust are used to pay for items that are not typically covered by government benefits, which means that your loved one can enjoy a better quality of life through housing, education, and entertainment.
Step 3: Administer the Trust
The Trustee is the person who administers the special needs trust. The Trustee is tasked with making sure the terms of the trust are followed and your loved one receives everything they need from the trust. The Trustee typically will be a parent or whoever initially created the trust, however a Successor Trustee should be named to take over in case the original Trustee is incapacitated or passes away. Administering a special needs trust can be difficult since there are so many rules that need to be followed, so it’s advised to consult with an experienced special needs attorney in the Tampa area to determine how best to choose a Successor Trustee.
If you would like to get more information about setting up a special needs trust for your child with disabilities, or if you’d like to have your current special needs trust reviewed to make sure that it’s still designed to meet your family’s needs, please contact us at (813) 438-8503 to set up a consultation.