What is a Supplemental Needs Trust?

If you don’t have an estate plan or are looking to refurbish your current plan, you may be wondering if a supplemental needs trust is right for your family. Or, you may be wondering what a supplemental needs trust even is!

A Supplemental Needs Trust is used to ensure that your child/children with special needs will be taken care of for their lifetime, affording them security, quality of life, and protecting their assets from those who may try to take advantage of them. SNTs also allow you to pass down your inheritance to your children without disqualifying them from government programs. Otherwise, the inheritance your children receive on your passing will be counted as “income”. SNTs are also protected in various ways, including being used by the government to pay back Medicaid costs.

Supplemental Needs Trusts are meant to act as supplemental money for a child who is receiving public benefits to take care of their basics (i.e. food, housing, disability income).

If you want total assurance that your child will have access to life insurance policies, retirement funds, etc. if you pass away and that these assets will be used to support the person that you choose, as well as protect your chosen person’s inheritance from government claims or the claims of creditors, then you may want a supplemental needs trust as part of your estate planning.

Schedule a free consultation with Attorney Lindsey Egan to learn more about estate planning by filling out the form below!