Seek out an estate planning attorney with knowledge of special needs planning.
If you do not have good guidance, it is possible that leaving assets to a disabled family member will cause them to lose their benefits, according to The Ledger in “Crafting an estate plan to include disabled family members“.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that pays monthly benefits to disabled or blind adults and children. To qualify, an individual must have fewer than $2,000 of countable assets and very limited income. Medicaid is a Federal and State health insurance program that helps people with limited assets and income pay for their medical costs.
While it is common for people to name their spouse or children as beneficiaries in their estate plan, if your spouse or child is disabled and receiving government benefits, an inheritance will result in their losing benefits, unless special planning is done.
A Special Needs Trust (SNT) is designed for disabled beneficiaries so that cash, real property, or any] other assets are available for the person’s benefit, while still allowing the disabled person to receive their means-based government benefits.
There are several different ways to accomplish this, depending on your family’s situation. One way is to have a testamentary Special Needs Trust created within a will or trust that goes into effect when the creator of the trust or the will dies. An SNT also can be created while you are living and can be funded during your lifetime instead of waiting for it to go into effect at your death.
A third-party SNT can be named as the beneficiary of life insurance policies and retirement accounts, investment accounts or real property. The third-party SNT assets that are not used for the disabled beneficiary during their lifetime, can pass to non-disabled beneficiaries upon the death of the disabled beneficiary.
These assets will be free from Medicaid recovery liens, since the property in a third party SNT does not belong to the disabled beneficiary.
A first party SNT is set up and funded with assets that do belong to a disabled person, and no other funds can be contributed to this type of trust by any other donors. These are often used when a large settlement following an injury is awarded. In Florida and in other states, first-party SNTs are subject to Medicaid recovery to reimburse the state.
Reference: The Ledger (May 2, 2019) “Crafting an estate plan to include disabled family members“
