What Every Personal Injury Attorney Needs to Know About Pooled Special Needs Trusts

Joanne Marcus, MSW | Commonwealth Community Trust

Joanne Marcus, MSW, serves as the President and CEO of Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT). Ms. Marcus has worked in nonprofit administration since 1978 and has led CCT since 2000.

As an expert in the field of Pooled Special Needs Trust administration, Ms. Marcus has published numerous articles for professional organizations including The National Alliance on Mental Illness and The National Medicare Secondary Payer Network. Ms. Marcus is frequently asked to present to professional organizations and family groups nationwide including The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, The American Academy of Estate Planners, The United Spinal Association, and Stetson University College of Law.

CCT was founded in 1990. Under the leadership of Ms. Marcus, CCT has grown to serve over 2,600 trust beneficiaries that are vulnerable, injured, or have special needs throughout the United States.

Rachel Baer, Esq. | Commonwealth Community Trust

Rachel Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled trust administrator serving beneficiaries across the United States who are injured, vulnerable, or have special needs.

Prior to joining CCT, Ms. Baer was a partner at Family First Law Group, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia, and her practice focused on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and guardianship and conservatorship. Before entering private practice, Ms. Baer served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General’s Health Services Section from 2010 to 2012, helping to advise several state agencies that provide services to persons with disabilities.

I. What is a pooled special needs trust? | 11:00am – 11:12am

II. Questions to ask when determining whether a client might benefit from a special needs trust | 11:12am – 11:24am

III. Introduce case studies | 11:24am – 11:36am

IV. Government Benefits | 11:36am – 11:48am

• Means-tested (Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid)
• Earned (Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare)
• Dual eligibility

V. Special Needs Trusts | 11:48am – 12:00pm

• Comparing individual vs. pooled special needs trusts and governing law
• Comparing first-party vs. third-party pooled special needs trusts and governing law
  • First-party
    • Funds from a person with a disability (employment, court award, inheritance, etc.)
    • Remainder policy with Medicaid payback
    • Example
  • Third-party
    • Funds from other people
    • Remainder policy
    • Example

Break | 12:00pm – 12:10pm

VI. Pooled Special Needs Trusts (PSNT) | 12:10pm – 12:40pm

• Role of non-profit trust administrator
• How funds can be used
  • Disbursement decision-making roles & responsibilities
  • How funds can be spent
  • Traps that could jeopardize public benefits
  • How PSNTs and ABLE Act accounts intersect
• Use of a Medicare Set-Aside Account with PSNT
• Use of a structured settlement with PSNT