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What is an irrevocable special needs trust?

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Question:

What is an irrevocable special needs trust?

Answer:

Special needs trust are trusts designed to improve the quality of life of a person with special needs, without affecting that person's eligibility for government benefits. To be effective, a special needs trust must be irrevocable. This means that after you sign it and have it notarized, you can't revoke it, and you can amend or terminate it only under specific circumstances provided for in the trust itself. If you wish to completely change a special needs trust, you simply create another one and amend your estate planning documents to leave assets to the new special needs trust so that the original trust is never funded.

Learn more about how Special Needs Trusts work on Nolo.com.

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