Court of Appeals Upholds Rejection of SSI Special Needs Trust

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a decision by the Social Security Administration to reject a type of special needs trust, known as a “(d)(4)(A) trust” (a trust designed to hold the assets belonging to a disabled person). A (d)(4)(A) trust is commonly used in special needs planning to qualify a disabled individual for Social Security supplemental income (SSI) or Medicaid benefits. This type of trust must be created by a disabled individual’s parent, grandparent, guardian, or a court, to hold the disabled individual’s personal funds.  The disabled individual cannot establish this type of trust for themselves.

In Draper v Colvin, the parents of 18-year-old Stephany Draper, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury in an automobile accident, attempted to create a (d)(4)(A) special needs trust to hold and administer the proceeds of a personal injury settlement for her benefit. Stephany had granted power of attorney to her parents to settle her personal injury claim and transfer the settlement funds to a trust on her behalf. Her parents, acting individually, established the trust “pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A).” They then transferred the settlement proceeds (more than $400,000) into the trust by authority of the power of attorney.

In reviewing her claim for benefits, the Social Security Administration found that, despite the express language of the trust agreement to the contrary, Stephany’s parents were acting as her agents and not as her parents when they created the trust, and an agent is not a person authorized by the statute to create a (d)(4)(A) trust. Therefore, the settlement proceeds were countable assets in determining Stephany’s eligibility for SSI benefits. SSA rejected her claim because the settlement proceeds put her over the asset limit. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the SSA’s denial of benefits.

The case turned on a very technical interpretation of the Social Security rules in regards to the language of the trust agreement and the way in which the trust was created and funded. The case underscores how careful one must be when it comes to qualifying for governmental benefits such as Medicaid or SSI and how easy it can be to run afoul of the rules despite careful planning.

You may read the entire decision here.