New Special Needs Trust Law To Make It Easier For Disabled Individuals

To Create Trusts

Press Release (January 2017)

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On December 7, 2016, the Senate approved H.R. 34, the 21st Century Cures Act by a vote of 94 to 5. The new law includes the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, which adds provisions to the law allowing competent individuals with disabilities to create their own special needs trusts.

 

Previously, special needs trusts could be established using assets of family members or other third parties or using the assets of the disabled beneficiary. However, the law requires a first-party special needs trust to be established on behalf of the disabled individual by a parent, grandparent, guardian or court; the disabled individual could not establish a first-party special needs trust on her own because the law assumed that the disabled individual was mentally disabled or incompetent to make such important decisions.