Wright Abshire will help you preserve your entitlement to public benefits. If you are injured or disabled, or if you are the parents of a child with special needs, you do not want an inheritance, award, or settlement to threaten your entitlement to public benefits. We help our clients avoid losing access to public benefits due to the existence of private funds.

This special needs trust allows an individual or a couple to transfer or gift assets to a trust for a beneficiary, either during their lifetime(s) via an inter vivos trust, or through a Will at their death(s) via a testamentary trust, without the fear of causing a loss of eligibility for the beneficiary for Medicaid or other governmental benefits. This type of supplemental needs trust, known as a third party trust, allows the beneficiary to have many of the "extras" that the government will not otherwise pay without fear of loss of the beneficiary’s governmental benefits.

Wright Abshire will work with personal injury and litigation attorneys to help a plaintiff retain eligibility for Medicaid, SSI, and other government benefits, while still having their settlement or award available to supplement the plaintiff’s needs. In many instances, a plaintiff who is expecting a settlement or award will become uninsured or uninsurable during the litigation process and become dependent upon government healthcare benefits and other forms of government aid. Without proper planning, the settlement that was long awaited will not only have a negative effect upon the plaintiff’s healthcare benefits and other aid, but will be spent down on the plaintiff’s healthcare much more quickly than anticipated. Wright Abshire will work with the plaintiff’s personal injury or litigation attorney to ensure continuation of the plaintiff’s government benefits, as well as retention of the plaintiff’s award or settlement to supplement the plaintiff’s needs.