Pooled Special Needs Trusts

Ed Biggin and Yolanda Mazik discussed pooled special needs trusts as a fast and practical Medicaid-planning tool, especially in crisis or near-crisis situations.

• Structure: a nonprofit administers a master trust with separate beneficiary subaccounts established through joinder agreements.
• Eligibility function: properly funded pooled trusts can convert excess resources into non-countable trust assets while preserving funds for supplemental needs.
• Source of funds: first-party and third-party money must be distinguished because reimbursement and retention rules differ.
• Sole-benefit rule: distributions must be for the beneficiary rather than other people.
• Speed: standardized documents and professional administration can make pooled trusts useful when eligibility must be established quickly.
• Common uses: inheritances, settlements, excess cash, and guardianship or conservatorship funds.
• ABLE coordination: pooled trusts and ABLE accounts can be used together, subject to their different funding and distribution rules.
• Provider selection: attorneys should review governance, fees, audits, investments, accounting, portals, and beneficiary support.

The session emphasized pooled trusts as a primary planning option rather than merely a fallback when timing and administration matter.