Practice Area Special Needs Trusts
Our attorneys and staff members have extensive experience working with families who have a family member with special needs. They can help determine what public benefits may be available to enhance the quality of life for a person with special needs. By working in conjunction with our firm’s estate planning practice, we help families develop an appropriate estate plan which is sensitive to their loved ones’ eligibility for public assistance benefits.
Our firm counsels families on the appropriate trustee selection, prepares trusts when appropriate, and also serves as trustee of special needs trusts. The firm is experienced in advising families about distributions which can be made from a special needs trust without losing eligibility for public assistance benefits.
Personal injury attorneys from throughout North Carolina have consulted with our attorneys to aid in the resolution of personal injury and medical malpractice cases that avoid the loss of Medicaid eligibility and other public assistance benefits for the client, thereby enhancing the quality of life for the client. Our attorneys work with you to prepare the special needs trust and assist the personal injury attorney with obtaining the requisite approval of the trust by Medicaid and the court with jurisdiction over the case, when needed.
The firm has developed the capability to fully administer a special needs trust, from the preparation of fiduciary accounting to handling fiduciary tax returns for the trust, and, where appropriate, preparing income tax returns for the trust beneficiary.