Personal Injury Settlements for Clients With Disabilities: Preserving Means-Tested Government Benefits
Role of Nonprofit Trust Administrator, Intersection of PSNTs and ABLE Act Accounts, Combining Structured Settlement With PSNT
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
The CLE webinar will discuss how personal injury attorneys can preserve their clients' means-tested benefits after a personal injury settlement or judgment, focusing on when to use a pooled special needs trust for clients with a disability. The panel will review how to determine whether a pooled special needs trust is appropriate, how to properly document those findings, as well as how to evaluate pooled trust administrators.
Outline
- Overview
- What is a pooled special needs trust
- Questions to ask when determining whether a client might benefit from a
- special needs trust
- Introduce case studies
- Overview of government benefits
- Means-tested (Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid)
- Earned (Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare)
- Dual eligibility
- Overview of special needs trusts
- Comparing individual vs. pooled special needs trusts and governing law
- Comparing first-party vs. third-party pooled special needs trusts and
- governing law
- First-party
- Funds from person with a disability (employment, court
- award, inheritance, etc.)
- Remainder policy with Medicaid payback
- Example
- Third-party
- Funds from other people
- Remainder policy
- Example
- First-party
- Pooled special needs trusts
- Role of nonprofit trust administrator
- How funds can be used
- Disbursement decision-making roles and responsibilities
- How funds can be spent
- Traps that could jeopardize public benefits
- How PSNTs and ABLE Act accounts intersect
- Use of a Medicare Set-Aside Account with PSNT
- Use of a structured settlement with PSNT
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How is a pooled special needs trust different from an individual trust?
- What is the difference between means-tested and earned benefits?
- What can funds in a pooled special needs trust be used for?
Faculty
Rachel Baer, Esq.
Counsel and Director of New Client Services
Commonwealth Community Trust
Ms. Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled... | Read More
Ms. Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled trust administrator serving beneficiaries across the United States who are injured, vulnerable, or have special needs. Prior to joining CCT, Ms. Baer was a partner at Family First Law Group, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia, and her practice focused on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and guardianship and conservatorship. Before to entering private practice, Ms. Baer served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General’s Health Services Section from 2010 to 2012, helping to advise several state agencies that provide services to persons with disabilities.
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Joanne Marcus, MSW
President and CEO
Commonwealth Community Trust
Marcus, MSW, serves as the President and CEO of Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT). Ms. Marcus has worked in nonprofit... | Read More
Marcus, MSW, serves as the President and CEO of Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT). Ms. Marcus has worked in nonprofit administration since 1978 and has led CCT since 2000. She is an expert in the field of Pooled Special Needs Trust administration, Ms. Marcus has published numerous articles for professional organizations including The National Alliance on Mental Illness and The National Medicare Secondary Payer Network. She is frequently asked to present to professional organizations and family groups nationwide including The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, The American Academy of Estate Planners, The United Spinal Association, and Stetson University College of Law. CCT was founded in 1990. Under the leadership of Ms. Marcus, CCT has grown to serve over 2,600 trust beneficiaries that are vulnerable, injured, or have special needs throughout the United States
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