Florida Special Needs Trusts Attorney
Special Needs Trusts for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Awards and to Preserve Inheritance
If a minor or an incapacitated person receives compensation from a personal injury claim, it may be necessary to establish a special needs trust in order to protect the funds. Similarly, a family may need to go through probate in order to appoint a person to file a wrongful death claim and receive the compensation.
At the law office of Craig F. Snyder, P.A., we work closely with individuals, families and personal injury lawyers to create legal solutions that protect an accident victim's and their loved one's compensation from such lawsuits. We can even refer the injured and their family to a personal injury attorney that "feels right" for them if they are otherwise not represented at such a trying time. With more than 20 years of experience handling these situations, clients can trust our ability to represent them in meeting their priorities effectively.
Working to Meet Your Needs
There are several reasons why you may want to establish a special needs trust for personal injury compensation. Maybe the injured victim is a minor and cannot manage the funds. Additionally, putting the financial award in a special needs trust can help ensure your injured loved one qualifies for Medicaid and other benefits, thus allowing recoveries to supplement instead of replace other available resources and as a result, greatly improve the quality of life of the beneficiary.
As a small firm, we are able to sit down with you to fully understand your situation and needs. We will advise you on your options and help determine the best estate planning tools to handle your affairs. We understand that suffering a serious, life-changing injury, or the wrongful death of a loved one, is a devastating and emotional experience. That is why we are committed to offering personal and compassionate guidance in helping the injured and their trusted advisers and representives make the best financial planning motivated estate legal decisions for the circumstances.
Personal Injury and Guardianships
If your loved one is incapacitated following a serious accident, he or she may need a guardian to manage the funds from the settlement or verdict. Attorney Craig F. Snyder can represent you during guardianship proceedings to appoint a proper representative for your family member and further, if appropriate, to create trusts and other arrangements under guardianship proceedings to help the injured and the family create a "new normal" that best serves the current situation while remaining flexible and hopeful for what tomorrrow may bring.
Inheritance for the Heir Who Benefits from Public Assistance
If one of your desired "heirs" receives Medicaid or other public benefits that measure a person's "resources", special arrangements may be appropriate as you consider even your most basic estate plan decisions such as making a Will. Before leaving an inheritance to such a recipient, it makes sense to be certain of potential adverse impacts that may await a beneficiary who inherits from you at a time when they are receiving resource sensitive benefits or are otherwise suffering from a "condition" or situation that makes it likely that it may be in their interest to apply for such benefits in the future. It is possible to use your Will, and depending upon the relationship (or lack), other estate planning documents such as Trusts, to create at death special/supplemental needs trusts to receive inheritance you otherwise desire to give. Such death time methods to give inheritance represents an opportunity for a giver, with the help of special language, to enhance overall financial benefits for a recipient in a way that cannot happen with outright gifts or "traditional" trusts lacking the needed language.
Contact a Special Needs Trust Attorney
Contact our law office, in Jupiter, Florida, to learn how we can help with your estate planning needs following a serious or fatal accident.