What is a special needs trust?

Relatives of people with disabilities often will find that trusts provide tremendous long term benefits for their disabled family members. A trust can be sued to protect the assets from creditors, place control of the assets in individuals or institutions chosen and trusted by the creators of the trust, while allowing the beneficiaries of the trust to become eligible for public benefits. Medicaid and the Supplemental Security Income program which is administered by the Social Security Administration are the two government entitlement programs that most benefit disabled people. Because trust drawn today are intended to exist for the lifetime of the disabled family member, it is reasonable to expect that the SSI and Medicaid programs will change to some degree during these years. The best of these trusts are written anticipating these changes and providing for methods to protect the assets and the interests of the disabled family members even in the event of law changes.