Special Needs Trusts

A special needs trust is a discretionary trust meant for the benefit of a disabled person, with the goal of maintaining whatever governmental benefits are available to the disabled person.  Usually, a special needs trust will prohibit direct distributions to the beneficiary, and require the trustee to purchase goods and services for the benefit of the beneficiary.

One of the lesser-known issues in Medicaid or MassHealth planning is that assets can be transferred to special needs trusts even after a nursing home stay has begun.  Thus, the estate plan of any family which has a disabled child needs to have the flexibility to preserve assets for the child via a special needs trust and a durable power of attorney which allows the funding of the trust.

For information on Special Needs Trusts and taxes, read Attorney Barreira’s blog post, When Is a Special Needs Trust Considered a Qualified Disability Trust for Federal Income Tax Purposes?

 

For questions related to Special Needs Trusts, please use the Contact Form below or call the office of Brian E. Barreira at 508-747-8282 to schedule a personal appointment and, if travel is a problem for you, he can conduct a Zoom meeting with you.