Special Needs Trusts
Individuals of any age can have special (supplemental) needs, whether acquired at birth or childhood, or developed in adulthood. At Moschella & Winston, we understand the unique legal issues and challenges that confront disabled individuals and their families. For the best protection and security, you need an attorney with experience you can trust, who is familiar with the complex decisions you face.
For over 30 years, Moschella & Winston, LLP has specialized in disability and special (supplemental) needs law, and our attorneys have dedicated their careers to guiding and protecting persons with injuries, illness, or developmental disabilities. Partner Neal Winston is President-Elect of The Special Needs Alliance, a national invitational organization of expert attorneys who specialize in public benefits and disability law. He is a leading authority on Medicaid, SSI, and other needs based public benefits, as well as how to use special or supplemental needs trusts to protect eligibility for these benefits.
Our expertise in the field of special needs and disability law includes determining eligibility and protecting state and federal public benefits, developing a plan when a settlement or inheritance is received, establishing special (supplemental) needs trusts, and long-term care planning for families with members having special needs. We also work with and support the professionals who provide services to the injured and disabled, such as assisting personal injury attorneys in resolving their cases to enhance the settlements and judgments of their clients and to maintain the eligibility of clients for SSI, Medicaid, and other public benefits.
Overlapping, inconsistent, and changing program requirements, taxation issues, family concerns over the individual’s vulnerability to waste or loss of a settlement, and a variety of other issues should all be considered when creating a special (supplemental) needs trust. We can guide you through selecting the options that best fit your or the disabled individual’s short and long range needs. Individuals with special (supplemental) needs may move to a different state with different program rules, or interpretations may change after the trust is created. The flexibility to keep up with these transitions is an important consideration that we pay close attention to.
Once the trust is created, we can continue to provide the support that is needed for proper maintenance and management by serving as a professional Trustee, co-Trustee with family members, Trust Protector, or administering the trust on behalf of family or other Trustees. We offer continuing benefit eligibility support, tax returns, accountings and periodic redetermination reports to agencies and courts, and we are prepared to assist families in providing compassionate management for trust beneficiaries with physical or mental illnesses that create difficult demands on their time and relationships.
Our attorneys have substantial experience in working with the agencies that must approve these trusts for benefit eligibility. As a testament to our experience, we are often asked to review and work through trust related problems created by others, and in the event the trust is challenged, we will present amendments or defend the Trust with public agencies or in court. No other firm offers this full range of services with decades of experience, commitment, resources, and advocacy that Moschella & Winston provides to help families plan for and solve serious problems they face when coping with disability issues. You can count on us to ease your burden, provide peace-of-mind, and guide you every step of the way. Contact us for an initial consultation.