A Lady Bird Deed is a life estate deed which reserves the right in the life tenant to divest the remainderman of his or her interest by conveying title to a third party without joinder of the remainderman. A Lady Bird Deed can be created...
Lady Bird Deeds, also known as Enhanced Life Estate Deeds, have seen an increase in popularity in the last 20 years, primarily in the areas of estate planning and elder law. Along with the increase in the number of attorneys using Lady Bird Deeds, there...
The Miami-Dade County Probate Court receives petitions and orders to establish various types of special needs trusts.. Prior to the judges ruling on these petitions and orders, lawyers must have their petitions and orders reviewed by case managers. These case managers are trained to make...
The Elder Law Center of Mondschein and Mondschein, P.A., has relocated its main office to 10691 North Kendall Drive, Suite 205, Miami, Florida 33176. The telephone number of the firm remains the same at (305) 274-0955. This move strategically places the firm closer to most of...
Special Needs Trust Termination Provisions under the POMS. The Social Security Administration has always had rules regarding disbursement of funds from a self-settled special needs trust upon the death of a beneficiary. They have recently added additional provisions regarding the early termination of a self-settled...
Retroactive Amendment of Trust - Nunc Pro Tunc - Not Likely to be Accepted by SSA. In reviewing an existing special needs trust, the Social Security Administration may determine that the trust fails to comply with one or more SSA rules and regulations. This may occur,...
"Savings Clauses" are of No Help Under the POMS. In drafting a special needs trust, many practitioners include a "null and void" or "savings" clause in the document. These clauses operate to cure defects in a trust and preserve the remaining trust provisions. They prevent...
Revisiting the "Sole Benefit Rule." Under Social Security Administration rules, a self-settled special needs trust must be established "for the sole benefit of" the individual. A trust is considered established for the sole benefit of an individual if the trust benefits no one other than beneficiary...
Third Party Vendor Payments on Behalf of the Disabled Individual. When a third party, such as a family member, makes a payment directly to a vendor who provided goods or services to the disabled individual, this is known as a third party vendor payment (TPVP). POMS...
Part Two Treatment of Disbursements from Trusts. Although trust principal may not be considered an available resource to the beneficiary, disbursements from the trust may be considered income to the SSI recipient (trust beneficiary), depending on the nature of the disbursements. The following rules apply to both self-settled...