If a client is disabled, unmarried, and over the age of 65, a pooled special needs trust may be a good way to ensure important services, property, and assets. These kinds of trusts are set up to preserve supplemental care and compliment the benefits the beneficiary receives from governmental programs.
There are many uses for a pooled special needs trust, but they can only be created for clients who are unmarried. One of the most highly used disbursement options for this kind of trust is bed hold payments in the nursing facility the client lived in before having a prolonged hospital visit. This happens in old age, and if the client is unable to pay to reserve his or her bed, they are often discharged from the hospital to an unfamiliar facility while their bed is relinquished to a new person in need. This can be traumatic for the client, so distributing trust funds to save his or her spot is ideal.
The pooled special needs trust can also pay for services not paid for by government programs such as guardianship fees, hair care, legal fees, medical transportation, podiatry, translators, and attendant care. The trust can also be disbursed towards the preservation or maintenance of the beneficiary's home, and towards lawn care, taxes, repairs, and snow removal.
These kinds of trusts are subject to different policies and different states and may conflict with federal programs such as Medicaid, causing the beneficiary to lose eligibility. However, if the trust is carefully overseen by a special needs trustee, the client can be secured by both programs and the trust.
Read more about pooled special needs trusts.
