Special Needs Law
Disabled adults and parents of disabled children face additional challenges every day. The tendency is to put off thinking about future financial and care needs. WanderPolo Law strives to provide you with the information and support you need to make the best choices for your family's future.
We offer a holistic approach focusing on:
- Specialized estate planning
- Special needs trusts
- Trust administration and trustee representation
- Education, employment and residential issues
- Guardianships and conservatorships
- Public benefits
Do we need a special needs trust?
Some parents are hesitant to create a special needs trust because they feel they can't predict what their child's needs will be. Others assume all disabled individuals need a trust. The truth is more complex. Special needs trust can serve two main purposes: to preserve assets for the specialized needs of the disabled individual without jeopardizing public benefit eligibility, and secondly to provide a mechanism for the most beneficial use and efficient management of funds. The source and scope of the assets, the nature of the individual's disability and the services and benefits they receive (or could receive in the future) are all key factors in determining whether a special needs trust is right for them, and how it should be structured. This is just one piece of the comprehensive plan that we help our clients develop.
The ABLE Accounts Act of 2009:“New federal legislation has been introduced which would expand the use of special needs trusts and allow families with children with special needs to save, tax-free, for disability-related expenses. The ABLE Accounts Act of 2009 (S. 493) combines the idea of a tax free vehicle similar to 529 savings plans with special needs trusts. Under current law, disabled individuals under the age of 65 or their families can put aside funds in a special needs trust for the supplemental needs of a disabled child without impacting the disabled child’s eligibility for SSI, Medicaid and other government benefits. However, there is currently no tax incentive for funding special needs trusts. The new law, if enacted as presently drafted, would essentially exempt the ABLE accounts from all income tax, including on contributions and distributions. The legislation as presently drafted would also expand the needs which can be funded through trusts to allow assets to be used for education, housing, transportation, employment support, health and wellness, assistive technology, personal support services and life necessities. Under present law assets from a special needs trust cannot be used for food or shelter (housing) costs.” |
