Disability Planning: An overview of Supplemental and Special Needs Trusts

As estate planning attorneys, we help our clients identify goals that are important to them and their families and work to ensure that the documents we draft reflect those goals. We discuss everything from income tax, capital gains tax, and estate tax implications to charitable gifting to guardian and conservator designations and more. Many parents want an inheritance for a minor child protected and managed by someone they trust until the minor reaches an age of maturity, but we also want to consider how a distribution may affect a child with special needs. Oftentimes, children and adults with special needs participate in some sort of government health care program or receive some other benefit. Drafting special needs or supplemental needs trusts are an avenue by which to protect a recipient’s eligibility for benefits, while also protecting certain assets that may well contribute to an increased quality of life for a person living with special needs that might not otherwise be available while receiving public benefits.

Consider the differences and similarities between a special needs trust and a supplemental needs trust as outlined below:

A comprehensive approach to estate planning requires careful attention to detail and an understanding of each client’s individual situations, especially when planning for a child with special needs. Our attorneys are here to discuss your estate planning needs. Contact our office or book an appointment online to schedule an initial consultation.

Categories: Uncategorized