July 2016

I am the new Representative Payee for a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiary.  The beneficiary was overpaid for over a year and now the Social Security Administration (SSA) is seeking repayment.  When and how should I pursue the previous Rep Payee for reimbursement?

The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, a bill that would correct a decades-old error in federal law that prohibits people with special needs from creating their own special needs trusts, has passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, bringing it one step closer to passage.

Michael Anderson, a 35-year-old quadripalegic man who needs the assistance of a personal care attendant (PCA), asked the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia\’s science museum, to waive the entrance fee for his PCA. They refused. 

A federal district court rules that the Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council did not have good cause to question an administrative law judge\’s finding that a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiary had no vested interest in a trust that was distilled into a third-party special needs trust. W.N. Kleinert v. Commissioner of Social Security (N.D.Cal., No. 15-cv-06111 NC, July 8, 2016).

Because access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) depends on a beneficiary\’s income and resources, even small increases in income can cause a reduction or loss of SSI benefits. Unfortunately, when an SSI beneficiary\’s parent is ordered to pay child support, those payments can end up ruining the beneficiary\’s access to government benefits.

The government prepares a budget. Businesses and families prepare budgets. A special needs trust should be no different.

Payment of trustees usually takes one of two forms — either a flat fee based on a percentage of the trust\’s assets or an hourly rate — and the method of compensation usually depends on who is serving as trustee.

If you are administering a first-party special needs trust, pay attention to who is benefiting from items purchased by the trust or you could cause problems with the beneficiary\’s government benefits.