“I’m a personal injury attorney representing a client who suffered a disability or traumatic brain injury from an accident. What should I be aware of when seeking a settlement for my client?”
If you have a client who has suffered a personal injury and is going to be receiving a settlement, who is on the Medicaid program or receiving Supplemental Security income, a special needs trust is probably a very good option. But there may be other things as well that could be done. You might have a client that would benefit from owning a van in his or her own name. And there are reasons why it may be better to have it in an individual’s name. That could be done before putting money into a special needs trust.
We’ve had clients that have borrowed money for quite a period of time from family members and they’re going to want to know, can they pay those loans back? That is something that should be analyzed as to what documentation does someone have to prove that these were loans or how did they get the money? And we could provide advice about that.
There’s a new relatively new Act called The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act or ABLE. And if you have a client who is under the age of 26, putting money into an ABLE account may be a good option.
Note: ABLE account limits have been revised since the filming of this video. Learn more here.
