SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS OFFER SEVERAL BENEFITS

Those who have family members with special needs in Virginia naturally put a lot of care into creating their life care plans. Creating trusts is part of this. Trusts are estate planning tools that essentially allow people to manage property — such as real estate or money — for other individuals.

Those who engage in estate planning generally view trusts as vehicles that are helpful for conserving wealth for generations in the future. When it comes to special needs trusts, the beneficiaries are individuals who are mentally ill or disabled and thus are incapable of managing their own finances. These trusts are made to offer ongoing monetary support for these beneficiaries’ lifestyle and medical needs.

Special needs trusts can help not only with health care services but also with needs related to daily living, such as skilled nursing or assisted living facility services. These trusts can additionally assist with providing a modified communication device or an accessible automobile, for example. A special needs trust may also help with funding vocational activities or recreational activities, or it could be used to facilitate claims processing or cover the costs of accountants as needed.

The benefit of a special needs trust is that it ensures that a disabled loved one will receive proper care when the person currently caring for him or her can no longer do it. However, setting up these trusts can seem overwhelming and confusing from a legal standpoint. An attorney in Virginia can provide the guidance necessary to ensure that this is done properly for a loved one’s sake.

Source: clevelandjewishnews.com, “Trust important part of life care plan for special needs loved one“, Andrew Zashin, Dec. 14, 2017