[WSBARP] Special Needs Trusts

[Jim Doran]

Well, in an irrevocable special needs trust the beneficiaries do receive
benefits, as allowed in the Trust, but this is at the discretion of the
Trustee and cannot be demanded by the beneficiary.  That is what protects
the corpus.

The ultimate beneficiaries, once the Trustors die, will be one or more of
the surviving children.

I thought that as long as the beneficiaries cannot demand and get the
assets, the assets are protected from the Medicaid spend-down provisions.
No????

James R. Doran
Attorney at Law
100 E. Pine Street -  Suite 205
Bellingham, WA 98225
(360)393-9506
jim at doranlegal.com
www.doranlegal.com

On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 8:54 AM, Ronald St. Hilaire <rfs at licbs.com> wrote:

> If the clients (man and wife in your scenario) will be beneficiaries of
> the trust, then it is an available resource for Medicaid spend down
> purposes.  See WAC 182-516-0100.
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *Ronald F. St. Hilaire** · *Attorney at Law
>
> Liebler, Connor, Berry & St. Hilaire
>
> 1141 N. Edison, Suite C · Kennewick, WA  99336
>
> (509) 735-3581 office · (509) 735-3585 fax
>
> rfs at licbs.com · www.bentonfranklinlaw.com
>
> *[image: lcbs.gif]*
>
>
>
> *From:* wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:
> wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] *On Behalf Of *Jim Doran
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 08, 2016 7:25 AM
> *To:* WSBA Real Property Listserv
> *Subject:* [WSBARP] Special Needs Trusts
>
>
>
> Hello Trust Attorneys:
>
> I have done many Special Needs Trusts for clients with "special needs",
> usually diabilities of some sort.  the purpose of the Trust is to give some
> assistance to the beneficiary but to not violate or avoid any of their
> public assistance benefits.  That's pretty simple.
>
> Now I have a client, man and wife, asking me to do a similar Trust to
> protect their assets from the medicaid spend-down provisions.  I have
> thought about it for a while and can't see why the same basic format
> wouldn't work for that purpose.
>
> Of course the hard part if for them to actually "irrevocably" transfer the
> assets into the Trust and to "trust" the Trustee.
>
> It would seem to me that the Trustee would have discretion to spend Trust
> assets/money for the benefit of the beneficiaries without much restriction
> until one of them is receiving medical treatment or other care that could
> be paid by Medicaid.  The Trustee would have to be careful not to have
> assets in the hands of the clients that are valued at more than the
> Medicaid allowance.
>
> It would also seem that the Trustee would not be an institutional trustee
> but rather someone close to the clients whom they trust.  Same with
> Successor Trustee.
>
> AmI on the right tract here?
>
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> James R. Doran
>
> Attorney at Law
>
> 100 E. Pine Street -  Suite 205
>
> Bellingham, WA 98225
> (360)393-9506
>
> jim at doranlegal.com
>
> www.doranlegal.com
>
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