There are no clear instructions from the Social Security Administration on whether a trustee of a Special Needs Trust can use a disabled person’s d4A Special Needs Trust to support a healthy spouse and dependent children. 

For statutory and policy reasons, we argue, not only can a trustee use a disabled beneficiary’s self-settled SNT funds in

An attorney asked us, "How does the Social Security Administration treat Worker’s Compensation benefits for SSI eligibility purposes?"  

WC weekly wage replacement payments.  The SSI financial eligiblity rules require that a claimant have low income and few assets, which they call "resources."  Weekly worker’s comp wage payments are treated as "unearned income" for SSI

The four major programs fall nicely into a Matrix: the two columns are the monthly SSA payments (either RIB/DIB or SSI) which trigger the two major medical programs, Medicare and Medicaid.  The two rows indicate which two programs are insurance-based (RIB/DIB and Medicare) and which two are welfare programs with monthly means-testing for income

Our 18 page booklet, titled "What every personal injury attorney needs to know about SSI, Medicaid and Special Needs Trusts" in Question and Answer format, has been revised to include the latest 2008 federal benefit figures, and developments in Social Security and Florida Medicaid law.