Minneapolis Special Needs Trusts Lawyers

Ensuring That Your Loved One with Disabilities Still Qualifies for Government Benefits with Special Needs Planning Services

If you take care of a family member who has special needs, you might worry about your loved one’s future since there may come a time when you’re no longer here to care for them. Looking at your estate planning options now can eliminate some of your concerns. One option that might appeal to you is a special needs trust, which can ensure your loved one will continue to be the beneficiary of important government benefits regardless of income.

If you’re not familiar with special needs trusts and other estate planning tools, you should talk to a Minneapolis special needs trust attorney to learn more. At Metropolitan Law Group, our Twin Cities attorneys have spent years advising local residents about how to protect themselves and their families in the long term. Contact our law firm today for a free consultation with our caring, experienced attorneys.

What Are Minnesota Special Needs Trusts?

The goal of a special needs trust is to ensure that it’s possible for a disabled person to continually qualify for needs-based government benefits. This is important because needs-based programs take assets into consideration. As a result, when a parent or grandparent leaves a substantial inheritance to their child or grandchild who has a disability, the beneficiary might be denied critical government benefits because their income is now too high to qualify.

Of course, if you don’t leave them any money in your will or trust, they will likely struggle to buy necessities that government benefits do not cover. This is why you should consider establishing a special needs trust. With this type of trust, you can transfer money into it for your loved one to use, and it won’t be included in their assets when it comes to their eligibility for needs-based government assistance programs that pay for housing, medical costs, and food.

Special needs trusts are specifically designed to help our loved ones with disabilities continue to benefit from government programs like Supplemental Social Security Income. Whether you are creating the trust document or are performing maintenance as a trustee, our law firm would be proud to provide you with our helpful legal services.

How Can Your Loved One Use Special Needs Trust Funds in Minneapolis, MN?

It’s common for a disabled individual to get benefits from a variety of government programs, such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. This type of government assistance usually provides benefits to help with housing, medical care, food, and enough money to pay for some other costs. However, these benefits are rarely enough for a disabled person to live comfortably on.

This is why you should consider setting up a special needs trust that can safely contain any inheritance you decide to leave your loved ones. They can use this money to pay for anything that public benefits don’t cover, which might include:

Transportation.
Vacations.
Furniture.
Electronics.
Entertainment, such as movies, shows, and sporting events.
Hobbies or clubs.
Tuition and other education costs.
Any out-of-pocket medical assistance or long-term care needs.

Basically, your loved ones with disabilities can choose to use the funds from the trust on any costs that their government benefit programs don’t pay for. To learn more about the advantages of special needs trusts, trust administration basics, and more, contact our Minneapolis law firm for a free consultation with our Twin Cities attorneys.

Are There Different Types of Special Needs Trusts?

As you look for information on special needs trust options, you might notice references to supplemental needs trusts. If you are wondering what the difference is compared to special needs trusts, the answer is that they are considered the same now rather than two separate options. But previously, the main difference between the special needs trust and the supplemental needs trust was the funding source.

In particular, with a special needs trust, the disabled beneficiary was always the one providing funding, usually through inheritance or legal settlement. With a supplemental needs trust, parents, grandparents, or other family members usually provide the funding for the trust.

Now, both are simply called special needs trusts.

They’re broken into three categories:

First-party special needs trust: This is funded by the disabled individual who is the beneficiary.
Third-party special needs trust: This is funded by a third party, such as parents or other family members of the beneficiary.
Pooled special needs trust: This involves the beneficiary joining a trust that is managed by an organization that takes care of taxes, important decisions, and other trust administration tasks.

In short, both the special needs trust and the supplemental needs trust are estate planning options that were established to set aside money for disabled beneficiaries, ensuring that their eligibility for government benefit programs would not be in jeopardy. This way, they could have the funds needed to pay for their expenses but would still receive benefits that might include Social Security disability insurance, medical assistance, and more.

If you want to learn about the benefits of setting up a special needs trust for yourself or a family member, you should contact our Minneapolis law firm to schedule a free consultation with a special needs trust attorney.

What is the Difference Between a Special Needs Trust and Other Types of Trusts?

While other trusts may be used for various purposes, benefiting the trust’s creator and their heirs or beneficiaries during the grantor’s lifetime and after death, special needs trusts were specifically designed to benefit individuals with mental, physical, or developmental disabilities.

Special needs trusts are created to improve the quality of life of disabled beneficiaries while not jeopardizing their eligibility for government benefits.

Do You Need a Lot of Money to Create a Special Needs Trust?

There is a common misconception that special needs trusts and estate planning on the whole is something reserved only for the super-wealthy. This could not be farther from the truth.

Utilizing estate planning strategies, our law firm can help you create a special needs trust that fits your budget. If you have any questions or concerns about funding special needs trusts, please contact our legal staff today.

How Often Should You Review and Update the Special Needs Trust?

It is wise to review and modify your estate planning documents, including special needs trusts, on a regular basis. Our trust lawyers recommend that you review the trust document at least once a year. Alternatively, we encourage our clients to review and potentially update their trusts after major life events and significant changes in circumstances, such as deaths in the family, the birth of new children, a divorce, or a dramatic change in income or assets.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Minneapolis Special Needs Trusts Lawyers Today

If you’re worried about the long-term care and well-being of a disabled relative, you can protect them by ensuring they have access to resources for life. One way to do this is by getting legal support as you set up a special needs trust with the help of a Minneapolis attorney you can count on.

When you come to Metropolitan Law Group to talk to a special needs trust attorney about your options, you can expect us to ask questions about your disabled family member and their circumstances. This might include questions about their resources, such as the government programs they benefit from and any assets they have. Our special needs trust attorneys will also ask about the kind of medical assistance and support your loved one needs, as well as who will take on the responsibility of trust administration.

Additionally, we will go over what expenses they will pay with the funds in their trust in order to maintain the quality of life they deserve. We want to ensure the beneficiary of the trust has long-term access to the funds and benefit programs they need to live a good life, and meeting with a lawyer to learn your legal options is an excellent way to get started. Contact our Minneapolis law firm today at 612-448-9653 to schedule a free consultation with a caring, experienced special needs trust attorney.