In plain English: a trust designed to hold and manage assets for a person with a disability without jeopardizing eligibility for needs-based benefits — such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
What it does: pays for expenses that improve the beneficiary’s quality of life (the extras) while preserving access to important public assistance.
Critical when a person with a disability stands to receive money (inheritance, settlement, lawsuit). Proper structure is essential — “do it yourself” here puts their benefits at risk.
First-party vs. third-party: a first-party SNT holds the beneficiary’s own settlement/ inheritance (and usually must repay Medicaid at death); a third-party SNT is funded by others (parents) and protects the family’s money for the beneficiary. The type changes the rules.
Watch out for: an outright inheritance to a disabled child can disqualify them from benefits overnight. A properly drafted SNT preserves both the help and the money. Get this one wrong and you can undo years of public-support planning.