Setting up a special needs trust for the benefit of your disabled child relieves you of worrying so much. A special needs trust is a legal document your attorney drafts for you that provides for the care your child currently needs and will need throughout his or her life.
Trust assets
You can place all kinds of assets into your child’s trust, including the following:
- Any money (s)he receives from Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, etc.
- Any money or other assets (s)he receives through inheritances
- Any money (s)he receives from a lawsuit settlement or jury award
- Any other income-producing assets you wish
Trust benefits
Your child’s special needs trust owns all the assets in it, not your child personally. This ensures that (s)he remains eligible not only for the federal and/or state benefits (s)he currently receives, but also any that could become available to him or her in the future. The trust should list whatever subsidies (s)he currently receives, including those for housing, education, employment, etc.
As trustee of your child’s trust, you will continue to manage and distribute its assets just as you do now. You should designate a successor trustee who will take over these responsibilities if and when you cannot perform them yourself due to illness, incapacity or death. You likewise should designate the person or facility who will care for your child after your death.