Special Needs Trusts

Proper estate planning is imperative when you have a beneficiary who gets certain government benefits (like Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income) because of a disability.

Those benefits have strict eligibility requirements, with both an income and financial resource limit to qualify. To qualify in Georgia, a person can have no more than $2,000 of countable resources. If that person has or acquires more than this limit, their government benefits will be reduced, suspended, or canceled.

A third-party special needs trust allows you to leave the person an inheritance while keeping their benefits intact. The assets are owned by the trust instead of the individual, so they do not “count” for eligibility purposes.