Special Needs Trusts Lawyer In Davis County

Helping You Safeguard Your Disabled Child’s Future

When you love and care for a child with special needs, it can be hard to think about what will happen to them when you pass away. Your child will need continued access to certain resources, and while leaving sufficient money to pay for their needs might sound helpful, it can actually cause their government benefits to be terminated. Fortunately, you can prevent this issue by making a special needs trust.

If you’re not familiar with special needs trusts and other estate planning options, contact Able & Strong Law, Inc. for assistance determining which solutions best suit your needs. You deserve advice from attorneys who understand the importance of government benefits for people with disabilities, so we encourage you to call us when you’re ready to make your estate plan.

What Is a Special Needs Trust?

When you’re raising a child with a disability, you’re often entitled to apply for public benefits to pay for medical care, food, and other needs. After all, these costs can add up fast, so Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid are meant to help.

However, such programs are only available to families with limited income and assets. This means if you leave your child an inheritance to access when you pass away, you could accidentally disqualify them from receiving these essential benefits. Of course, these benefits are typically only enough to meet their basic needs, so leaving them zero assets isn’t ideal either. This is where a special needs trust comes in, also known as a supplemental needs trust.

The government allows families to use this type of trust to leave assets to disabled beneficiaries without risking their eligibility for benefits. After all, when you transfer your property to a trust, you’re no longer considered the owner according to the law, as the trust now owns it. This means the assets in the trust can’t count against your family when determining eligibility for certain benefits, which is why it’s essential that you create a special needs trust if you plan to leave significant funds for your child.

What Are the Types of Special Needs Trusts?

As you start researching special needs trusts in Davis County, it’s important to understand your options, which include a first-party special needs trust and a third-party supplemental needs trust. The most common one is a third-party trust, which is funded by someone other than the disabled beneficiary. In most cases, the disabled person’s parents, grandparents, or other family members provide the funds for this type of trust.

The other type of special needs trust is a first-party trust, which is funded by the disabled beneficiary. In most cases, the only way a disabled person can fund this type of trust is if they have cash from an inheritance or legal settlement. However, when the disabled person passes away, any funds left in their trust must be paid to the government as reimbursement of the Medicaid benefits provided during their lifetime.

By contrast, third-party trusts funded by family members don’t need to reimburse the government for Medicaid benefits when the beneficiary passes away. This gives the family more control over the property in the trust, which is why this estate planning option is often recommended for families planning for the future of a child with a disability. If you have questions about special needs planning for your estate, contact us for quality legal services from a caring team.

What Can the Funds in These Trusts Be Spent On?

Your special needs child might be covered for medical treatment, food, and shelter through government programs, but they deserve to have funds to spend on items that can improve their quality of life. Fortunately, the money in special needs trusts can be used to pay for extra expenses that include:

Transportation, including purchasing and maintaining a car
Buying or renovating a home
Medical and dental costs not covered by Medicaid
Sports, hobbies, and other recreational activities
Movies, concerts, and other forms of entertainment
Furniture and household electronics
Vacations
Tutoring, software, and other extra educational costs

If you like the idea of ensuring your special needs child has access to these and other expenses in the future, you should talk to Utah attorneys about the right estate planning options for your family. If it turns out a special needs trust is the most beneficial tool for your child, our team will help you establish one along with any other helpful special needs planning options.

Should You Hire a Special Needs Trusts Lawyer In Davis County?

Parents will always worry about their children, especially when they have disabilities. That’s why it’s essential to start the special needs planning process now if you want to ensure your child’s future is secure even after you pass away.

At Able & Strong Law, Inc., we understand the importance of special needs planning on a personal level, as our founding lawyer’s brother has special needs. In fact, this inspired our lawyer to start providing legal services to families with special needs children, so you can trust that we’re committed to ensuring your special needs loved one has the care they need for years to come.

If you have questions about how the special needs trust works, we encourage you to contact us for answers. We will make sure it’s the right estate planning tool for you before you create one and begin adding assets for your beneficiary. You deserve to have peace of mind when you think about the future of your loved one, and you can look forward to this when you hire us. Call our law office at 385-438-8801 to get legal advice from a compassionate team that understands your concerns.