Understanding Arizona Special Needs Trusts

Understanding Arizona special needs trusts is essential to ensuring that these types of accounts are properly set up and managed. The key to knowing how to properly administer a special needs trust lies in knowing the purpose of this account and the rules that govern it. Whether you are dealing with a special needs trust Arizona account or one in another state, the rules are generally the same. A special needs trust funnels financial assets into a special account for individuals that have a disability of some sort, generally of the mental type.

The trust provides monies for the beneficiary to use for a vast array of purposes; however, the administrator of the account is responsible for funneling out these funds for various purposes. To ensure that public benefits, like SSI and Medicaid are not affected, it is important that an administrator controls the account instead of the person receiving the benefit.

This is a significant point because public benefits are often needs based, so the individual in question cannot make more than a certain amount in income (varies per state), otherwise they may not be able to access vital resources. This is where a special needs trust Arizona account – or those based in another state for residents of that particular state – can help to ensure the beneficiary still has access to those additional financial resources without being penalized for the added income.

The person that manages the account is the trustee, while the person that sets up this account is the trustor. The terminology can be tricky, but the core component of successfully setting up and managing a trust is ensuring the beneficiary of this account benefits from the resources found within it without directly managing any component of it. Special needs trust Arizona accounts – or others in additional states – may cover monies or property left to a disabled individual from a family member or friend or funnel resources left to someone that’s been injured – and thereby disabled – from a car accident. These trusts can be funded via a third party or from the beneficiary directly.

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