Why Is It Important to Have an Attorney Who Specializes in Special Needs Trusts?

It is important that special needs trusts not be unnecessarily inflexible and generic. Although an attorney with some knowledge of trusts can protect almost any trust from invalidating the child's public benefits, an attorney without special needs experience may not customize the trust to the particular child's needs, and the child may not receive the benefits that the parent provided when they were alive.

Another mistake attorneys without special needs experience make time and time again is putting a "pay-back" provision into the trust rather than allowing the remainder of the trust to go to others' upon the special needs child's death. While these "pay-back" provisions are necessary in certain types of special needs trusts, an attorney who knows the difference can save your family hundreds of thousand of dollars, or more.