Upstate Estate Law, P.C. Blog

If your spouse is disabled and has qualified to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and/or Medicaid benefits, you will need to carefully consider how to provide your Spouse with an inheritance, or else those benefits be endangered. The resource and income limits required in order to qualify for SSI and Medicaid are very low. A poorly planned inheritance to your Spouse can result in disqualification from these vital programs.

There are a number of planning techniques that can be utilized in order to prevent this disqualification. They include converting counted resources into exempt resources, such as using the inheritance to fund the purchase of a home, car, a pre-need funeral contract, or a qualified-Medicaid annuity for the benefit of the disabled Spouse. Another technique is the establishment of a third-party Special Needs Trust.

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Medicaid Special Needs Trusts have received much needed legislative attention from the United States Congress and President of the United States. HR 34 was signed into law by President Obama on December 13, 2016. Title 5, Section 5007 of HR 34 is entitled “Fairness In Medicaid Supplemental Needs Trusts” and contains exactly two sentences designed to correct a 23 year old omission made in the Social Security Act.

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