Special Needs Trust

The Secure Act and Your IRA

Published on: November 2, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Secure Act governs distributions from IRA’s and other retirement plans. After the death of the account holder, most named beneficiaries are required to take the funds out over ten years.

While the IRS has not finalized the regulations, the safest approach is to take minimum distributions for the first nine years, based on the life expectancy of the beneficiary. More may be taken, and taxes will be based on that amount. The way the minimum distribution works is as follows. Let’s say the beneficiary has a life expectancy of forty years when the account holder dies. In the year following the account holder’s death they must take one-fortieth, the following year one-thirty-ninth, and so on until year ten when they are required to take the retirement account balance in full.

There are a few exceptions to the ten year rule. Spouses may roll the inherited IRA into an IRA of their own and continue it for their own lifetime — generally waiting until they are 72 to start taking required minimum distributions (RMD’s) unless they need the funds earlier.

What You Should Know About Creating a Special Trust for Your Elderly Loved One

Published on: July 5, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many adults with special needs children routinely worry about how the child will survive when the parent can no longer support them. Often, leaving money directly to a special needs child can end up jeopardizing that child’s ability to receive any support from government-funded programs including Medicaid and Supplemental Social Security Income. To receive funds from these programs, beneficiaries often must have below a few thousand dollars in assets.

In these situations, special needs trusts can help to provide for the beneficiary once the parent or loved one is no longer around. Because the special needs trusts are viewed as owning assets, they are exempt from asset limit tests associated with government programs. Special needs trusts can meanwhile help to support quality-of-life improvements for a beneficiary. Special needs trusts also help to avoid situations where a family member receives funds and the other relatives are left to face the burden of this responsibility as well as the cost of care.

Due to the interest in special needs trusts, the number of these trusts has been growing substantially. Despite these benefits, special needs trusts come with certain regulations regarding who can qualify to use them as well as how earnings are taxed, which can end up influencing situations that warrant using these trusts.

Alternatives to Living Trusts

Published on: April 7, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

You might have considered utilizing a living trust. Often, these trusts are a good idea if a person wants to maintain assets for loved ones without subjecting assets to significant taxes or probate.

In reality, however, people often forget a whole range of other types of trusts including revocable and irrevocable living trusts. The type of trust you utilize can make a big difference in the outcome of your estate. Pick the right type of trust and you can really simplify the estate planning process. Pick the wrong trust and you can end up facing a range of complications.

Revocable means revisable, while irrevocable means a person cannot later changes a trust’s terms barring a few exceptions. A revocable trust lets the trust creator modify the trust at some later date. With irrevocable trusts, a person lacks the ability to modify the terms of the trust.

Ensuring Your Special Needs Trust Stays a Special Needs Trust

Published on: July 5, 2016 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Special needs trusts are helpful estate planning tools that allow family members to leave behind assets to loved ones with special needs without risking the beneficiary’s ability to receive Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid benefits. Without a special needs trust, any extra income that they receive such as an inheritance may inadvertently disqualify them from receiving public benefits or cause the inheritance to be seized to pay for those benefits. With a special needs trust, the beneficiary gets the best of both worlds, with the trust funds being used to pay for a wide range of necessities like clothing, education and medical bills.

However many special needs trusts may inadvertently, either due to poor wording or mismanagement, cause themselves to not be considered by the government to be special needs trusts. When this happens, the intent of the trust is frustrated and the assets of the trust may disqualify the beneficiary from public benefits under the United States government means test.

The primary issue that often arises with a special needs trust is that the trust is not recognized as a special needs trust and is instead labeled as a support trust. A support trust is similar to a special needs trust in that it gives support to the special needs beneficiary. However, when determining eligibility under the means tests, public agencies will consider the assets of a support trust to be attributable to the special needs beneficiary. This means that the support trust may disqualify the beneficiary from qualifying for the benefits they need.

BACK TO THE BASICS – SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS

Published on: December 16, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

STRICT ADHERENCE TO FORM

On March 3, 2015 the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Denver, Colorado, rendered an opinion in the case of Draper v. Colvin, where it explicitly admitted that it drew “a hard line” when it upheld the decision of the Social Security Administration that denied Stephany Draper eligibility for supplemental security income. Draper v. Colvin, 229 F.3d 556 (8TH Cir. 2015). Ms. Draper was an 18 year old woman who suffered traumatic brain injuries in an automobile accident and applied for supplemental security income benefits. In addition, she filed a personal injury case where she netted approximately $429,000 from the settlement. This amount of money would render Ms. Draper ineligible for both supplemental security income as well as Medicaid, both of which are means based programs.

SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS NOT COUNTED AS ASSET IN MEANS TEST

Basics of Special Needs Trusts

Published on: October 5, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Maintaining government eligibility for a disabled child or family member is extremely important for their long term care needs because such programs will often be the primary source for medical care throughout their life. A special needs trust is a way to supplement the needs of a child or loved one without risking program eligibility. Special needs trusts include self-settled trusts (grantor and beneficiary are the same person) and third-party trusts.

Establishing a Special Needs Trust

In many ways a special needs trust is established just like many other kinds of trusts. Special needs trust differ with respect to some specific provisions on the use and disposition of trust assets. Any special needs trust should clearly illustrate the purpose of establishing the special needs trust as providing supplemental benefits for the disabled beneficiary without compromising or reducing benefits received through government programs. The terms of the trust should also take into account the source of the trust assets. If a special needs trust is self-settled and funded with the beneficiary’s assets, the trust document must adequately address the requirements of New York and federal law relating to the treatment of trust accounts and benefits under state plans. Special needs trusts that are settled and funded by parties other than the beneficiary need to provide for discretionary distributions of the trust assets for supplemental support so as to avoid being classified as assets available to the special needs beneficiary. Assets available to the special needs beneficiary will be counted as resources for means-testing for government benefit programs. Other important features of a special needs trust include requirements that the trustee:

Distributions from Special Needs Trusts

Published on: October 2, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If you have included a special needs trust as part of your estate plan, you need to know the importance of making sure the distributions from that trust are permissible per the terms of the trust and do not defeat the purpose of the trust by affecting eligibility for needed government programs.

Effect of Distribution

A special needs trust is one way to supplement the needs of a disabled loved one without compromising eligibility for means-tested government benefits, including Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid coverage. With respect to means-tested programs, federal law will require a reduction in benefits to the extent the beneficiary receives income or assets are otherwise made available to the beneficiary. For example:

Back to Basics: Special Needs Trusts

Published on: November 17, 2014 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If your loved one has special needs or development disabilities, you may want to consider establishing a special needs trust. Also known as a supplemental needs trust, this type of trust is a legal tool used to help disabled people keep more of their income or assets without losing public benefits.

Purpose of Special Needs Trusts

This type of trust was initially created to help parents with disabled children provide for them as they grew up without making them ineligible for public benefit programs, like Social Security and Medicaid. The intent of the trust is to supplement any government benefits that they may receive or to shield excess income for Medicaid purposes.

Back to the Basics: First vs. Third Party Special Needs Trusts in NY

Published on: April 18, 2014 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Families throughout New York who have children with disabilities are frequently questioning how to best provide for their children’s needs–both now and in the future. It can be a complex issue, because relatives must balance their ability to provide help via their own private resources with available support through Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is designed to help those with certain disabilities with basic needs and is funded through general tax revenues, not Social Security taxes.

The government programs hinge on the specific income available to those with disabilities, and so relatives who provide support may unintentionally lead to disqualification of their loved one from Medicaid or lower SSI payments.

Special Needs Trusts in New York

Help with the Financial Stresses of Having a Child with Special Needs

Published on: October 24, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The New York Times published an interesting story last week discussing the “psychic toll” paid by families working to raise a child with special needs. The article attempts to delve into some of the more nuanced issues related to conducting special needs planning to take care of the finances and long-term care issues for these loved ones. The basic tasks–often including things like creating a special needs trust–are not necessarily confusing or complex. However, that doesn’t mean the planning is easy. That is because there are a plethora of mental and emotional challenges that go into this work.

The author explains, for example, that simply deciding on the appropriate living situation for a family member with special needs can be emotionally and spiritually taxing, regardless of the financial issues tied into the decision. Should the child live at home for as long as possible? Is it better for him or her to move into a group home? What happens if the child lives at home but is then forced to move out into unfamiliar territory after the parents pass away? These and many similar questions must be discussed thoroughly to ensure long-term financial plans best matcht the family’s wishes.

On top of that, the story explains how working through this issues must be done in such as way as to ensure other family dynamics are kept intact. Stress and disagreement associated with these challenges has led to many divorces or other family feuds. It is helpful to be aware of these risks and make decisions in a manner that does not destroy important relationships. One frightening and oft-repeated statistic is that 75% of couples with a special needs child ultimately get divorced. Many have challenged that accuracy of that statistic, but it is accepted that various strains are placed on a relationship when raising a child with these challenges. Couples must undoubtedly be proactive in their planning efforts so that the situation is as controlled as possible. Leaving things up to chance and simply taking every new crisis fresh is a recipe for relationship drama.