Estate Planning

In many cases, the trustee of a special needs trust should hire a professional investment adviser. Here are some guidelines for hiring one.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has put off the question of whether a special needs trust beneficiary is eligible for Medicaid until the state can locate its apparently lost Medicaid plan from 1972.

Parents of children with special needs must be concerned with ensuring that medical and financial decisions will continue to be made in the child's best interest once the child reaches age 18 -- the age of legal capacity.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently ruled that when a person dies, his or her IRA may be transferred to a child's SNT free of estate or gift taxes, and that required minimum distributions from that IRA to the SNT...

An inheritance from parents who fund their child's special needs trust by will rather than by revocable living trust is in the public record. Predators are particularly attracted to vulnerable beneficiaries, such as the young and those with limited self-protective...

Choosing a trustee is one of the most important and difficult issues in special needs trusts. The trustee must have the necessary expertise to manage the trust, including making proper investments, paying bills, keeping accounts, and preparing tax returns. A...

Income paid from a special needs trust to a beneficiary will reduce SSI benefits by one dollar for every dollar paid to him or her directly. In addition, payments by the trust to the beneficiary for food or housing are...