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Support your loved one and give to the Center for Disability Services at the same time

Supplemental Needs Trust ("SNT")

A Supplemental Needs Trust (also referred to as a Special Needs Trust) is a special type of trust that assists people with disabilities and is a very valuable estate planning tool. It can provide supplemental needs for a beneficiary throughout his or her lifetime while maintaining eligibility for public benefits and entitlement programs (such as Medicaid, SSI or SSD) or other sources of support. SNTs can provide funding for expenses not otherwise covered such as vacations, computers, specialized medical equipment or uncovered treatment, luxury items and gifts.

This is a WIN - WIN situation. It provides your loved one with a better quality of life and more opportunity during his or her lifetime, and is a simple and versatile way to ensure the Center can continue to provide quality and essential services to those who need them in the years to come.

How This May Work for You

woman smilingDebbie is 73 and her adult daughter, who has special needs, now lives in one of the Center for Disability Services’ community residences. As Debbie is getting older, she is becoming increasingly fearful of that day when she is no longer able to care for her daughter, or even supervise the care that is given to her. At the same time, her daughter has thrived and grown more independent thanks to the wonderful residential and other programs and services that her daughter has received from the Center for Disability Services during her 36 years. Debbie would very much like to do her part to make sure that the Center has the capacity to extend this same level of care and compassion to other individuals with disabilities in the decades to come. Debbie can ensure her daughter’s future well-being and happiness while committing herself to the future of the Center for Disability Services by setting up a Supplemental Needs Trust for her daughter and naming the trust as the beneficiary to her will. This will allow Debbie’s daughter to access these funds after her mother is gone for those little necessities of life that used to be her mother’s responsibility. Further, by naming the Center for Disability Services as residual beneficiary of the trust, any funds that her daughter does not use during her lifetime will thereafter go to support much needed programs and services for other individuals with disabilities.

Learn How to Create and Fund It

A Supplemental Needs Trust is a legally binding agreement through which money or other assets are transferred to a trustee and managed/held for the benefit of the disabled individual. It contains very specific restrictions as to distributions to ensure that they do not affect the beneficiary’s eligibility for entitlement programs. It is irrevocable and may be created and funded during your lifetime or upon your death pursuant to the terms and provisions of your will.

A Supplemental Needs Trust can contain or be funded with the following assets:

Child dancingDebbie is 73 and her adult daughter, who has special needs, now lives in one of the Center for Disability Services’ community residences. As Debbie is getting older, she is becoming increasingly fearful of that day when she is no longer able to care for her daughter, or even supervise the care that is given to her. At the same time, her daughter has thrived and grown more independent thanks to the wonderful residential and other programs and services that her daughter has received from the Center for Disability Services during her 36 years. Debbie would very much like to do her part to make sure that the Center has the capacity to extend this same level of care and compassion to other individuals with disabilities in the decades to come. Debbie can insure her daughter’s future well-being and happiness while committing herself to the future of the Center for Disability Services by setting up a Supplemental Needs Trust for her daughter and naming the trust as the beneficiary to her will. This will allow Debbie’s daughter to access these funds after her mother is gone for those little necessities of life that used to be her mother’s responsibility. Further, by naming the Center for Disability Services as residual beneficiary of the trust, any funds that her daughter does not use during her lifetime will thereafter go to support much needed programs and services for other individuals with disabilities.

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Next Steps

  1. Create your Free Will.
  2. Contact Kim Heunemann at 518-832-6113 or heunemann@cfdsny.org for additional information on supplemental needs trusts or to chat more about the personal benefits of creating a trust with the Center for Disability Services.
  3. Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
  4. If you include the Center for Disability Services in your plans, please use our legal name and federal tax ID.

Legal Name: Center for Disability Services
Address: 22 Corporate Woods Blvd., 5th Fl., Albany, NY 12205
Federal Tax ID #: 22-2484705

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A charitable bequest is one or two sentences in your will or living trust that leave to the Center for Disability Services a specific item, an amount of money, a gift contingent upon certain events or a percentage of your estate.

an individual or organization designated to receive benefits or funds under a will or other contract, such as an insurance policy, trust or retirement plan

"I give to the Center for Disability Services, a nonprofit corporation currently located at 22 Corporate Woods Blvd., 5th Fl., Albany, NY 12205, or its successor thereto, ______________ [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted use and purpose."

able to be changed or cancelled

A revocable living trust is set up during your lifetime and can be revoked at any time before death. They allow assets held in the trust to pass directly to beneficiaries without probate court proceedings and can also reduce federal estate taxes.

cannot be changed or cancelled

tax on gifts generally paid by the person making the gift rather than the recipient

the original value of an asset, such as stock, before its appreciation or depreciation

the growth in value of an asset like stock or real estate since the original purchase

the price a willing buyer and willing seller can agree on

The person receiving the gift annuity payments.

the part of an estate left after debts, taxes and specific bequests have been paid

a written and properly witnessed legal change to a will

the person named in a will to manage the estate, collect the property, pay any debt, and distribute property according to the will

A donor advised fund is an account that you set up but which is managed by a nonprofit organization. You contribute to the account, which grows tax-free. You can recommend how much (and how often) you want to distribute money from that fund to the Center for Disability Services or other charities. You cannot direct the gifts.

An endowed gift can create a new endowment or add to an existing endowment. The principal of the endowment is invested and a portion of the principal’s earnings are used each year to support our mission.

Tax on the growth in value of an asset—such as real estate or stock—since its original purchase.

Securities, real estate or any other property having a fair market value greater than its original purchase price.

Real estate can be a personal residence, vacation home, timeshare property, farm, commercial property or undeveloped land.

A charitable remainder trust provides you or other named individuals income each year for life or a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to the trust you create.

You give assets to a trust that pays our organization set payments for a number of years, which you choose. The longer the length of time, the better the potential tax savings to you. When the term is up, the remaining trust assets go to you, your family or other beneficiaries you select. This is an excellent way to transfer property to family members at a minimal cost.

You fund this type of trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. You can also make additional gifts; each one also qualifies for a tax deduction. The trust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to the Center for Disability Services as a lump sum.

You fund this trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. Each year the trust pays you or another named individual the same dollar amount you choose at the start. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to the Center for Disability Services as a lump sum.

A beneficiary designation clearly identifies how specific assets will be distributed after your death.

A charitable gift annuity involves a simple contract between you and the Center for Disability Services where you agree to make a gift to the Center for Disability Services and we, in return, agree to pay you (and someone else, if you choose) a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life.
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