Special Needs Trusts: Protect Your Child's Financial Future

by Kevin Urbatsch Attorney, Jessica Farinas Jones Attorney

Overview

Leave money to a loved one with a disability—without losing benefits

Use a special needs trust to provide financial security for your child (or anyone) with a disability, without jeopardizing important government benefits. Funds in a special needs trust, when used correctly, do not count against eligibility for benefits and can be spent to improve the quality of your child’s life.

This book provides everything you need to know about special needs trusts—whether you make one yourself with this book or have an attorney draft one for you. The authors explain:

• how special needs trusts work
• the trustee’s role
• ways to pass important information to successor trustees
• the pros and cons of joining a pooled trust.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781413331042
Publisher:	NOLO
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Kevin Urbatsch is a principal of the special needs and settlement planning firm, Urbatsch Law Firm P.C. in Walnut Creek, California. He is a nationally recognized expert in the unique planning needs of individuals with disabilities and their families. Mr. Urbatsch is a charter member of the national organization, the Academy of Special Needs Planners. He writes and is a frequent lecturer both locally and nationally on planning for persons with disabilities, primarily concerning special needs trust drafting and administration.

Jessica Farinas Jones is an attorney at the special needs and settlement planning law firm, The Urbatsch Law Firm P.C., located in Berkeley, California. Jessica is a frequent presenter on special needs planning, including first party and third party topics such as settlement planning and third party special needs trusts. She is a California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) update author and has co-authored articles in the 2018 California Trusts and Estates Quarterly as well as the CEB Estate Planning Reporter, both covering Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts. Jessica is a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP) and served on the Planning Committee for their 2018 National Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has been a member of the California Bar since 2016.

Table of Contents

1. Planning for a Loved One With Special Needs 2. Who Can Benefit From a Special Needs Trust< 3. How Trust Funds Can (and Cannot) Be Used< 4. Getting Money Into a Special Needs Trust 5. The Trustee’s Job 6. Choosing Trustees 7. Joining a Pooled Trust 8. Creating Your Special Needs Trust< 9. Finalizing and Funding Your Special Needs Trust 10. Where to Get More Help G. Glossary Appendixes A. Pooled Trusts B. Letter to Trustee C Sample Beneficiary Information Letter D. How to Use the Interactive Forms
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Does a good job of explaining what a special needs trust can do to protect the benefits of a person with disabilities.... Even if after reading the book you feel you need a lawyer, you will have the knowledge to approach the subject." Support for Families of Children With Disabilities Newsletter

"What will happen to our son or daughter when we are no longer here?’ Special Needs Trusts provides parents with an answer.” Roslyn Brilliant, Former Executive Director, Disabled and Alone/ Life Services for the Handicapped, inc.

From the Publisher