Appointing a Trustee

Who should manage your child's Special Needs Trust? When setting up a Special Needs Trust (SNT), most families face one quiet but critical decision: who serves as trustee?

In many families, a relative is a natural choice for trustee: someone who knows your child's routines, preferences, and needs intimately. But even the most devoted family member may lack the legal and financial expertise to avoid costly missteps, such as a distribution that unintentionally reduces or jeopardizes your child's SSI or Medicaid benefits.

Fortunately, it doesn't have to be one or the other. A family trustee can work alongside professionals, such as an accountant, financial adviser, trust company, or attorney, who can answer questions and help manage compliance and investments as they come up.

At Moskowitz Legal Group, we coordinate communication among these professionals so your child's trust works as intended. When drafting the trust, a parent can name a family member as trustee and build in professional support, for example by appointing a co-trustee or trust advisor to handle compliance and investments. This combination of heart and expertise is worth discussing with us before you finalize your plan.