You can provide for a disabled loved one who is receiving public benefits without jeopardizing their eligibility. With a Special Needs Trust, you will give yourself peace-of-mind knowing that your disabled family member is being cared for the way you wanted.
Leaving assets, whether through gift, will or a trust, to a beneficiary receiving means-tested public benefits, will in most cases simply cause them to forfeit their eligibility in the benefits program. In some cases, if the bequest or gift is of sufficient size to more than compensate for a lifetime of benefits, this may be the desired goal. In most cases, however, such a bequest will simply cause a few years of ineligibility until the gifted funds are exhausted.
NBI Educational Seminar
January 28, 2008