Special Needs Trust:

A special needs trust is supposed to happen in a special situation. In our society today there have been a number of kids who, for example, are -- have been diagnosed as autistic or have other kinds of special problems. And these particular children, even when they come of so-called legal age, age of 18, 21, they’re not really in a position to take care of themselves. The instrument that is used in that type of situation is something called a special needs trust.

A special needs trust is the vehicle by which money is left to a child in an estate that’s used for that child and yet at the same time you preserve that child’s rights for SSI and other types of special programs that that child might be entitled to under the state or under the federal government. It has to be very carefully and particularly drawn so that you don’t hurt the child’s rights and the child’s finances and at the same time provide that child with the money that that child is going to need as he or she grows older. It’s a very sensitive topic to a lot of people, and I’ve seen it happen and I’ve worked with children like this. And most times very caring parents are very particular about trying to do it the right way, and that’s what must be done.