Public Benefits

In many cases, the trustee of a special needs trust should hire a professional investment adviser. Here are some guidelines for hiring one.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has put off the question of whether a special needs trust beneficiary is eligible for Medicaid until the state can locate its apparently lost Medicaid plan from 1972.

The U. S. Supreme Court recently upheld the majority of the Affordable Care Act, also known as universal health care or Obamacare, but the court's decision leaves the future of Medicaid coverage for the very poor in doubt.

Before adjourning, Congress unanimously approved a bill that will provide a measure of relief for the millions of Americans currently providing unpaid care in their homes to those with special needs and the elderly.

A groundbreaking program in Massachusetts is expected to ease the financial burden on families with elderly or disabled relatives in need of care by paying family or friends about $18,000 a year to care for them.

A federal court has ruled that cutting off Medicaid home care benefits to a woman with special needs, thus forcing her into an institution, likely violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Fisher v. Maram (U.S. Dist.

My child with special needs relies on public benefits for basic expenses. I heard I should disinherit them to protect those benefits in the future. Is this right? The money barely covers living expenses.

My child with special needs will receive income paid from a special needs trust. Will it reduce their SSI benefits? They need this money for daily expenses and I don't want to create a bigger problem.

For anyone who deals with the frustrations of working with the many bureaucracies intended to help the special needs community, there is now a unique Internet-based organization to help along the way.