Special Needs Trusts
If you have a child with a disability who receives public benefits and you don’t want him or her to inherit any major assets from you outright, I may be able to help by preparing a Will that includes a testamentary Special Needs Trust. If your child were to inherit anything outright, you may reasonably fear he or she will lose her public benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and MaineCare benefits. If he or she were to inherit any significant assets (e.g., real estate) from you, these assets may be “countable” from the perspective of the Social Security Administration and the Office of MaineCare Services, and, therefore, he or she would be at risk of losing those benefits – or at least having them reduced. You would want to include articles in your Will that sets up a Special Needs Trust (SNT) for the benefit of your child. Specifically, the Will could place a portion of your estate into the SNT. The Trust is for the child’s benefit, but the Will would specify that i