Parents and caregivers of a loved one with special needs face a real balancing act: providing for their future without putting essential public benefits at risk.
The good news is you don't have to choose between the two.
This is where special needs trusts come in: they allow you to leave funds to a developmentally or physically disabled loved one while maintaining their eligibility for public health care and assistance benefits.
A Florida Special Needs Trust Allows You to Provide for Your Loved One Without Jeopardizing Public Assistance Benefits
Florida special needs trusts, also called Florida supplemental needs trusts, are vital for families who need or want to provide for a loved one with special needs.
These trusts can be incorporated into your estate plan, will, or living trust, or can be established as a "stand-alone" trust.
A special needs trust allows you to leave assets and monies to your loved one, preserve their access to government benefits, and help create a sustainable living plan for the years ahead.
Our special needs planning team can explain how to structure your estate plan to protect your loved one, including:
- Public benefits. Public health and assistance benefits were created to help people with very little income and resources. If a person with special needs has been left a sizable inheritance, they may be considered too wealthy to qualify for benefits…despite being unable to earn a living. A supplemental needs trust holds the assets you wish to leave your loved one, acting as a supplement to their government resources. When structured properly, funds in these trusts can only be used for goods and services over and above what government assistance provides, and cannot be used as payment for taxes or creditors.
- Inheritance concerns. Grandparents may include a special needs grandchild as a back-up beneficiary, never anticipating that the child may inherit the entire estate by outliving other beneficiaries. In addition, they may fail to appoint someone to oversee funds on the child's behalf, or fail to appoint a trustee to administer the disabled child's supplemental needs trust. If a supplemental needs trust is established after the child has already received their inheritance, the funds may count against them when applying for public assistance, since they will have been given legal access to them.
- Family matters. Parents should be wary of outright disinheritance as a means of protecting public benefits for a disabled family member. In many cases, parents draft wills that give a non-disabled sibling certain assets with the understanding that the assets are for the benefit of the disabled family member. However, the sibling isn't legally obligated to follow through: they may decide to simply keep the money and property for themselves (denying their sibling the inheritance), or create a bank account in the disabled family member's name (disqualifying them from benefits).
- Choosing the right type of trust. Not every special needs trust works the same way. A third-party trust, funded with assets that never belonged to the beneficiary (typically from a parent or grandparent), is the most common structure and the most flexible, since any funds remaining at your loved one's passing can go to other family members. A first-party or self-settled trust, funded with the beneficiary's own assets (often a personal injury settlement or a direct inheritance), comes with a Medicaid payback provision requiring remaining funds to reimburse the state. A pooled trust, managed by a nonprofit that combines many beneficiaries' assets while keeping separate accounts, can be a practical option when the amount being set aside is modest. Our team can help you determine which structure, or combination of structures, fits your family.
My Pink Lawyer® attorneys are well-versed in providing legal protection for loved ones with special needs.
We can help you plan for many eventualities concerning a special needs family member; however, we do not handle Social Security disability cases. During the planning process, we can refer you to a specialist in your area who can give this matter the attention it deserves.
Let Us Help Make Your Loved One's Future Bright
At My Pink Lawyer®, we have written a number of aids to help families create a custom-made plan that provides for a loved one with special needs. Our Florida Special Needs Planning Guide and our Special Needs Care Plan Worksheet are available free of charge to all Florida families.
If your Florida loved one has been diagnosed with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or another developmental or intellectual disability, it is vital that you download our free guides before you begin drafting your estate plan. If you need help with special needs planning, contact My Pink Lawyer® today to discuss your special needs planning with one of our experienced attorneys.
To schedule your initial Special Needs Planning consultation ($275 prepaid consultation fee will be collected to reserve your appointment), you may either click the button below to use our online scheduling calendar or call our office: 850-439-1191.
Refunded reservation fees are subject to a $50 administrative fee (deducted from your refund).
