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Davenport Attorneys Providing Assistance With Special Needs Trusts

At Schnell & Hancock, P.C., our Davenport and Rock Island lawyers have more than 40 years of combined experience that we use to help people achieve all manners of estate planning goals. We understand the desire to help family members with disabilities. Our guidance can ensure that your gift provides the additional help you intend, without the unintended consequences of causing the loss of other benefits. Let us show you how a special needs trust can benefit your loved one.

Providing Assistance For Loved Ones Without Endangering Benefits

Watching a loved one live with a disability can inspire people to want to offer financial assistance to that person. Many people want to provide an additional level of financial security for their loved ones with disabilities, through gifts or inheritance. Such gifts can, however, have unintended consequences for the individual with a disability who is receiving public or private benefits such as:

  • Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
  • Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI)
  • Veterans benefits
  • State waiver programs
  • Medicaid

These benefits can be critical to ensuring that a person receives the basic care that he or she needs. Many benefits for individuals with a disability are need-based. If a person has substantial income or assets, he or she may be disqualified from receiving further benefits. Therefore, a gift or inheritance can actually unintentionally worsen a person’s situation overall.

Special needs trusts allow people to provide assistance to a loved one with a disability, without threatening to disqualify that person from receiving the benefits he or she is depending on to pay for the costs of the care he or she needs.

Contact Our Lawyers For Help With Special Needs Planning

Learn more about how a special needs trust can help you provide for a family member with a disability. The attorneys of Schnell & Hancock, P.C., can help. To schedule an initial consultation, call 563-359-7112 or contact us online. From our Scott County offices, we provide legal representation throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois.