If you have a child or loved one with disabilities and you want to create a trust to provide for their financial well-being, you have several options at your disposal. One of the most important considerations when setting up a special needs trust is to ensure your child does not compromise their right to receive government benefits. A pooled trust can help you provide for your child’s needs while upholding their ability to receive key benefits.
A Virginia Beach pooled trusts lawyer can help you create this and other types of special needs trusts. A special needs planning attorney can ensure the trust meets the supplement needs of your disabled child or loved one while conforming with all legal requirements so that you have peace of mind about the future.
Elements of a Pooled Trust
A Virginia Beach attorney can ensure that a pooled trust or other type of special needs trust meets key legal guidelines that safeguard your child’s assets. With a pooled trust, the structure is created and managed by a nonprofit organization. The individual’s funds are invested along with other funds belonging to other individuals with special needs.
While beneficiaries have their funds pooled together, each individual retains their own account. Funds are not paid directly to the beneficiary but to third parties providing services for the beneficiary. For example, funds in a pooled trust could be used to pay for expenditures such as medical check-ups, out-of-pocket healthcare costs, vacations, the purchase of goods or services, or the cost of paying for a personal care attendant.
Pooled trusts are often run by professionals with specific expertise in special needs planning. Upon the death of the beneficiary, should their account in the pooled trust still have funds remaining, those would be paid out to Medicaid, if required by law, but otherwise could be paid to other family members.
When to Consider a Pooled Trust
When someone with special needs receives Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), certain criteria must be met in order for them to continue receiving these benefits. These criteria include meeting certain financial need-based thresholds. If the individual comes into an inheritance or otherwise receives a large sum of money, these benefits may be at risk of terminating.
Medicaid or SSI are only designed to cover the cost of basic needs, while someone with special needs may have a wide range of other financial and personal needs that exceed the purview of government assistance. A pooled trust can be an excellent option for a person with special needs who has received money from a settlement, inheritance, or otherwise has too much money in their bank account.
Having those funds transferred to the legal structure of a pooled trust where they can be managed on the recipient’s behalf covers a wide range of financial needs without compromising the individual’s right to government benefits. This is also far more preferable than having to spend down a certain amount of funds to continue receiving Medicaid or SSI or relinquish the funds.
If you are trying to provide for the financial well-being of a loved one with special needs, it may be time to speak with a Virginia Beach attorney who can explain whether a pooled trust or another trust option may be a viable solution.
Reach Out to a Virginia Beach Pooled Trusts Attorney for Legal Assistance
A pooled trust can allow your child or loved one with special needs to continue receiving government benefits by ensuring the assets held in the trust are not considered income. A pooled trust offers greater financial stability over the long run because a nonprofit organization or company runs it and the individual’s funds are invested with a group of other individuals.
A Virginia Beach pooled trusts lawyer is fully acquainted with these types of trusts and how they are administered. An attorney who has extensive experience helping clients address the complexities of financial planning for disabled loved ones can help you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of this legal structure for your situation. Contact Parks Zeigler, PLLC, to find out more about pooled trusts and what solutions may be available for your family’s needs.
