Most special needs planning mistakes share one cause: money reaches a child with a disability directly, counts as that child’s own resource, and ends Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medical Assistance eligibility. Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC sees the same errors repeat in special needs planning files across Happy Valley.
Why Does An Equal Split Backfire?
Dividing an estate into equal shares feels fair and creates a disaster for the child who receives benefits. An inheritance landing in that child’s name pushes countable resources past the program limit, and the payments stop.
Disinheriting the child, or leaving that share to a sibling with instructions to look after things, brings its own problems. A sibling’s divorce, creditors, or death can wipe out money everyone assumed was set aside.
Generic Trusts And Direct Payments
A trust drafted from a general template rarely holds the language that keeps assets from being counted. First-party and third-party trusts follow different rules, and using the wrong one can subject the remaining balance to a payback claim.
Handing a beneficiary cash or paying that person’s rent and groceries directly reduces the monthly benefit check, even when a trust exists. Distributions must run through the trustee and cover items the program treats as supplemental.
What Does Pennsylvania Estate Recovery Reach?
Pennsylvania recovers Medical Assistance costs paid for people 55 and older under 62 P.S. § 1412, and the claim is filed against the decedent’s probate estate. Leaving assets outright hands the program a target it would not otherwise reach.
Recovery is limited to the probate estate. A properly drafted third-party special needs trust stays outside that claim, because trust assets never belong to your child, and nothing passes through the Register of Wills in Bloomsburg.
Handshake Arrangements With Relatives
Counting on a sibling, aunt, or family friend to look after a child with a disability works only until that person moves, becomes ill, or disagrees with how things should be handled. An informal promise binds nobody.
Plans left unsigned, or signed and never explained, fail the same way. Trustees who first hear about the role at a funeral rarely know what accounts exist, which benefits apply, or who provides daily support.
What Belongs In A Letter Of Intent?
A letter of intent is not legally binding. However, it often becomes the most practical guide in your plan. Keep it with your trust documents, write it in plain language, and update it whenever your child’s routines, needs, or support system change:
- Daily routines, sleep patterns, and food preferences
- Names and phone numbers for physicians, therapists, and support coordinators
- Behaviors that signal pain, anxiety, or illness
- Religious practices and traditions that matter to your child
- People your child trusts, and any contact you want limited
The letter tells a future trustee or caregiver what your child cannot always put into words. Reading it once should give a near-stranger a workable picture of an ordinary week and what throws it off.
Build The Plan With Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC
A special needs plan works best when the trust terms, beneficiary designations, and your family’s goals all align. Kreisher Marshall & Associates, LLC helps families across State College coordinate every part of the plan, from trust documents and trustee selection to public benefits. Call (814) 458-6294 or contact us online to create a plan your child can depend on.