Dedicated Special Needs Planning Attorney in PA & Beyond

If you have a loved one with a disability, it is important to receive guidance from a special needs planning specialist while organizing your estate. A special needs trust can supplement the needs of a person with special needs while allowing the beneficiary to maintain his or her governmental benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security, and Medicaid. With medical advancements, people with disabilities are living longer and public benefits are often necessary, yet there is no guarantee that these benefits will provide adequate resources over the disabled person’s lifetime. 

If you need an elder law attorney for your senior care facility case, ELD, or estate-related matters, reach out to our firm and communicate directly with an experienced special needs attorney.

Why Hire a Special Needs Planning Attorney?

The job of a special needs planning attorney is a complicated one. You want the special needs trust to be established by someone other than the disabled person so the disabled person does not have the legal right to demand trust assets. The trust is then not considered a countable resource for purposes of government benefits. Therefore, the special needs trust beneficiary can continue to receive benefits even though they are a trust beneficiary.

The trust will give the trustee the discretion to make distributions to the beneficiary to the extent possible without reducing benefits, and trust assets are available if the beneficiary no longer qualifies for governmental assistance or that assistance is no longer available. This is difficult to understand and manage without a local special needs lawyer who specializes in this area of the law and can certify your plan for a disabled citizen.

If the trust is established on the beneficiary’s behalf because of a court order, for example as part of a personal injury settlement, the trust will not impact the beneficiary’s eligibility, but it may need to include a payback provision that reimburses the state for its assistance before trust assets pass to the trust’s other beneficiaries.

Sounds complicated, right? That’s precisely why you need a special needs planning attorney to begin with!

Common savings vehicles for children, like Uniform Transfer to Minor Acts (UTMA) accounts and typical trusts, or designating a retirement plan, insurance policy, or annuity directly to an SSI or Medicaid recipient will cause a reduction or elimination of public benefits. Recognizing this, some parents make the difficult decision to disinherit their special needs children, but this severe action is unnecessary. What they should do instead is find a special needs attorney to explain this complicated process to them.

Hire a Competent Special Needs Planning Lawyer for Your Case

No more googling “special needs planning lawyer” for the searchers located in PA! Miller Law Firm is dedicated to being your go-to local special needs planning firm. Set up an appointment at one of the locations in:

Get started on your special needs planning today; the initial consultation is free and you'll get to speak to your lawyer one-on-one – book an appointment now!