Special Needs Trusts
Present Special Problems

The primary duty for a trustee of a Special Needs Trust is to protect the trust beneficiary's eligibility for public assistance programs.  Fulfilling this duty presents the trustee with the unique problem of understanding all of the strict technical requirements for these various programs.  With the increased use of Special Needs Trusts, finding satisfactory trustee services is becoming more and more problematic.

What About Banks and Traditional Financial Service Providers?

Banks and traditional trust departments are typically not attracted to providing trustee services for Special Needs Trusts because these trusts frequently contain insufficient assets for the financial service industry.  Even when one of these conventional institutions may agree to serve as trustee, they simply do not understand the unconventional requirements of protecting eligibility for public assistance programs.

What About Family Members as Trustees?

By default, family members of the trust beneficiary are often the next logical choice for trustee.  This seems to be a natural choice because family members are usually in the best position to understand the beneficiary's special needs.  Too often, however, family members lack all of the necessary skills for fulfilling their fiduciary duties.  In addition, family members very often share with banks the same lack of understanding in regard to the strict technical requirements of protecting eligibility for public assistance programs.




THE CENTER FOR SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST ADMINISTRATION, INC.
4912 Creekside Drive
Clearwater, FL  33760

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contact@sntcenter.org

Did You Know?

Special Needs Trusts can be extremely flexible when administered properly.  The same trust document can usually be administered so as to be adapted to meet the specific requirements of the trust beneficiary's public assistance program.

 

Flexibility Leads to Complexity.

While the administration of a Special Needs Trust can be very flexible, it is ironic that this same flexibility is what leads to the complexity of Special Needs Trusts. 

Special Needs Trusts can be complex because the rules and regulations that govern public assistance programs are complicated and difficult for many people to understand. 

For example, while SSI is a federal program that is consistent across the country, Medicaid programs are State operated with each State creating its own programs and program rules within federal guidelines. 

 

 

 






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