Special Needs Trusts

At Hurwitz Law, we help families plan for the future of loved ones with disabilities by creating Special Needs Trusts that safeguard public benefits like Medicaid and SSI—while allowing for enhanced quality of life. Whether you're caring for a child, sibling, or aging parent, we’ll guide you in structuring a trust that provides long-term security without jeopardizing essential supports.

What We Offer

• Third-Party Special Needs Trusts: Funded by parents, grandparents, or other loved ones—often as part of an estate plan—so gifts and inheritances enhance your loved one's life without disqualifying them from means-tested benefits.
• First-Party Special Needs Trusts: When a person with a disability receives assets directly—an inheritance, personal injury settlement, or savings—we structure a trust that preserves benefit eligibility while putting those assets to work for them.
• Coordination With Your Estate Plan: We align wills, beneficiary designations, and life insurance so that well-meaning gifts from family members flow into the trust rather than accidentally jeopardizing benefits.
• Trustee Guidance: Practical advice for trustees on permissible distributions, record-keeping, and how trust funds can pay for the extras—therapies, education, travel, technology—that public benefits don't cover.
• ABLE Account Planning: Guidance on how ABLE accounts can complement a Special Needs Trust for everyday flexibility.

Why This Planning Matters

• Protect Essential Benefits: A properly drafted trust keeps Medicaid, SSI, and other supports intact while allowing assets to improve quality of life.
• Provide for the Long Term: A trust ensures care and resources continue when parents or caregivers are no longer able to provide them.
• Preserve Family Intentions: Your loved one benefits from your legacy exactly as you intend—with dignity, independence, and care.

Rooted in law, led by life—our goal is to give you peace of mind and your loved one a future with dignity, independence, and care.