Our Naperville special needs attorneys are happy to work with you and your family to create a Supplemental Needs trust, commonly known as a Special Needs Trust. It will permit your disabled loved one to gain assets, own property, earn an income or receive inheritances and gifts without affecting his or her government benefits.

‍There are limits to the number of assets you can own and the amount of monthly income you can receive before it affects or reduces your benefits. This does not mean that you need to live in poverty to be allowed to receive government benefits. You can or your loved one can maintain a good standard of living without reducing benefits by establishing a Special Needs Trust.

Read the full article by our Illinois special needs attorneys explaining the special needs planning process in Illinois.

In this article, our Naperville special needs attorneys discuss the process of adding a home to a Special Needs Trust and the benefits from not counting it as an asset when calculating Supplemental Security Income.  There are certain types of items that Special Needs Trust are allowed to pay for and things that aren't allowed under the rules, which are covered in this article. SSI can be used to pay for groceries, shelter, utilities and mortgage payments, so in effect, money from a trust can't be used for these. 

Read the full article by our Illinois special needs lawyers about transferring your home to your supplemental needs trust. 

Our Naperville special needs lawyers want you to be fully informed about the different types of special needs trusts available to you or your loved one, and have written this article detailing the differences between first and third part special needs trusts.

In short, a first party special needs trust considers assets originally owned by the disabled individual, while a third party trust concerns gifts from family and loved ones of the individual. We go over how these two types of trusts affect future tax considerations and explain how to know which type of trust to pursue.

Read the full article from our Naperville special needs team about the differences between first and third party special needs trusts.