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Starting September 30, 2024, food will no longer be considered “In-Kind Support and Maintenance” (ISM) for SSI purposes.

Both SNTs and ABLE accounts allow people with disabilities to save money without affecting their eligibility for public benefits such as SSI.

Estate planning is all about preparation and ensuring that your assets are distributed in line with your wishes. It’s a comfort knowing your loved ones will be cared for just as you intend. However, life’s unpredictability sometimes throws a curveball. What if a beneficiary becomes disabled after you’ve finalized your estate plan?

All supplemental needs trusts (“SNT”) are created for the sole benefit of a disabled individual. This type of trust is designed to provide support for a beneficiary without jeopardizing their receipt government benefits, namely Medicaid and SSI.

The purpose of an Article 81 discovery and turnover proceeding is to recover assets taken from an incapacitated person. The threshold question in an Article 81 Guardianship is whether there is a need for a guardian.

Article 81 of New York’s Mental Hygiene Law allows a court to appoint a guardian to manage the personal and/or financial affairs of an individual deemed incapacitated. The court must find that the alleged incapacitated person (“AIP”) cannot appreciate the nature and consequences of their inability to handle such matters and that the AIP is likely to suffer harm if a guardian is not appointed.

ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged savings and investment accounts for disabled individuals. We often get questions about the difference between an ABLE Account and a Supplemental Needs Trust and whether one is better than the other for a disabled child.

Britt Burner, Esq. discusses the importance of estate planning with a focus on special needs topics, including supplemental needs trust.

A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings account designed to pay for a child’s eventual educational expenses. Money in a 529 plan is used for a wide range of educational expenses, including college tuition, K-12 private school, certain apprenticeship expenses, and even student loan repayments.

Question: My daughter is unable to work and receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI), can I give her money to help pay her bills without reducing the amount of her benefit?