Lisa has a special-needs adult child and wants to ensure the child has the money necessary for care after she is no longer here to provide it herself. Can a special needs trust help, and how does she get one started?
A special needs trust can help. When drawn up properly with the help of an estate planning attorney, this type of trust can hold and manage the assets necessary to care for special-needs children throughout their lives.
Trusts are complicated, but the short description of one is a vehicle that takes ownership of assets for the benefit of a beneficiary — in this case, a special-needs child. A trustee, who can be a family member or trusted advisor, would manage this trust.
Lisa will need to decide whether she will make this trust revocable, which wouldn’t remove assets from her estate, or irrevocable, which would. This can be an important question, as the wrong move could disqualify Lisa’s child from receiving government benefits, for which qualifying is based on a very low threshold of assets owned by the child.
Client Profile is based on a hypothetical situation. The solutions discussed here may or may not be appropriate for you.