The Fundamentals of Special Needs Trusts

Special needs trusts may be effective tools for preserving the assets of a senior or a person with a disability, thereby improving the person's quality of life while not interfering with the person's eligibility for various governmental programs.

This guide places special needs trusts in the arsenal of tools available to an attorney to help his senior clients and those who have disabilities. It helps the practitioner to understand how she can draft a trust, using the person's own funds or the funds of another, to provide goods and services for those clients that will enhance their everyday existence.

Fundamentals of Special Needs Trusts provides practitioners with analysis of the law, authoritative advice, practice notes, checklists, and forms. It begins with a discussion of the history of special needs trusts, discusses ethical issues, explains the various types of special needs trusts and how to draft, fund, and administer those trusts, how and when to terminate them, and the relevant tax considerations.

Three highly regarded experts in the field have collaborated to write Fundamentals of Special Needs Trusts. Together they offer not only practice-oriented insight, but also viewpoints from three distinct areas of the country: California, Florida, and Colorado.