Special Needs Trust Fairness Act Passed In The Senate

The United States Senate has unanimously passed the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act that would permit people with disabilities to create their own first-party special needs trusts without having to rely on others.  A piece of companion legislation is currently tied up in the Health subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives.  The new legislation would fix a drafting error in the Social Security Act that required a person with disabilities that did not have a living or competent parent or grandparent to go through a complicated court procedure to create a vital trust.  The new legislation is intended to fix this issue by giving the person with a disability the ability to create his or her own trust. 

See Senate Passes Special Needs Trust Fairness Act; Focus Shifts to House, Special Needs Answers, September 24, 2015.