Notes on managing brother's SNT and a question

Family
1

My remaining parent died early this year, which means I became trustee of the special needs trust for my older brother, in his 60s and diagnosed decades ago. So far, so good.

I have a debit card and a check book. The principle amount resides at a bank/investment firm and there is a cash reserve account that I have to monitor, from which the debit card and checkbook pull. When the balance is low, I call the bank and verbally request more be put into the reserve account. A nice plus is how gracious the people are at the bank, the ones who helped me set this all up. They seem to like hearing about how he’s doing, probably because it’s outside of their normal wheelhouse conversations about interest rates and the like. One advisor said she found that SNT funds can be used for entertainment outings, and hadn’t I said my brother was a music fan, and wouldn’t it be fun to take him to a show?!! I thought for a moment she wanted to come with us. It is an unexpected bonus after years of having no siblings helping me and my trudging through so many hardships with him (and my aging parents) to have people be excited about any aspect of his care, and it leaves me with positive feelings.

I worried needlessly that my brother, who sort of understands the concept of my mom leaving a preserved amount of money for him, would fight me on wanting to buy things that weren’t appropriate. But other than a brief conversation after the funeral, he seems very content to let me handle this. Proves that trusts, no matter the amount, really are needed.

I don’t use funds to pay for his housing or food. But I’ve upgraded his work shoes, clothing and bedding. I’ve made changes to his apartment–shelves, new cleaning products, equipment. Bought him new glasses. Initially, since he’s so dialed in to his limited means, he only wanted to look at the glasses in the lowest tier of prices. The saleswoman and I urged him to humor us and choose, if price were not a consideration, the pair he really wanted. He showed us. We ordered the cheap pair that day, and I came back the next day and together we ordered him the nicer pair, as well. She cried typing up the order, saying how people like him need others to look after them.

One issue I’m having now is that because I’m using these funds to pay for some of his purchases, like the shoes, and he is not buying them, his personal checking account is above the $2,000 SSI asset limitation by just a little bit. I urged my brother to withdraw to keep it below, but he is stubbornly refusing so far. Has anyone out there ever witnessed or experienced an actual verification check and subsequent penalty for going over (that ridiculously low) amount? Please share if so.

Thanks for reading all this.

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I’m sorry for your loss ,

It’s nice to hear that things seem to be going relatively smoothly, and your sibling is getting some of the things he needs.

And you’ve been able to accomplish that! I don’t have an answer for your question except for to maybe check with social security,

Thank you for posting this gives me hope!

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Why is he refusing to withdraw money to stay under the limit? Does he understand the concept of a limit? I have never experienced a verification check on my assets or been penalized but if I was him I wouldn’t take the risk. It’s possible that at the least they might suspend his monthly payments until he spends down or at the worst take him off benefits and he’d have to reapply. It seems to me it’s not worth risking when a simple solution is him going out and buying a bunch of new clothes or a new stereo or a new chair or something.

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These are results for what happens if you’re on ssi and you go over the $2000 worth of assets. Do they check up on you and whats the penalty?

Show original results

AI Overview

If you are on SSI and exceed the $2,000 asset limit,

your benefits will likely be suspended or terminated, and you may have to repay benefits received while over the limit

. The Social Security Administration (SSA) conducts periodic reviews, and if your assets are over the limit at the beginning of a month, you will not receive benefits for that month. You will also become ineligible for associated programs like Medicaid.

What happens

  • Benefits are suspended or terminated: If your countable assets are over $2,000 at the start of the month, you are ineligible for SSI for that entire month. Benefits can be suspended and then terminated if the asset level remains above the limit.

  • You may have to repay benefits: The SSA will send an overpayment notice requiring you to repay any benefits you received while over the asset limit.

  • You may be disqualified from other programs: Going over the asset limit can also make you ineligible for programs like Medicaid, which often have the same asset rules as SSI.

How the SSA checks up

  • Periodic redeterminations: The Social Security Administration conducts periodic reviews (redeterminations) to check if you are still eligible for benefits.

  • Monthly review: Eligibility for SSI is determined at the beginning of each month based on your assets at that time.

  • Compliance is investigated: The SSA may investigate your accounts for compliance with the rules.

What you can do

  • Spend down assets: You can spend down your assets to get under the $2,000 limit to re-establish eligibility.

  • Convert assets: You can convert countable assets into non-countable assets, but this needs to be done strategically.

  • Sell excess resources: If you sell excess resources for their fair market value, the money from the sale may make you ineligible if it puts you over the limit.

  • Consult with a professional: It is important to understand the rules around assets, so consider consulting with a professional to understand your specific situation and options, especially when dealing with a large sum of money.

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Yes, this was another step for me to understand and handle. I’m sure you have a lot on your plate, so thanks for the reply.

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Yes, you’re right. Spend it down. He’s been agreeable up to this point so I guess I really have to push forward to get him to do this. I know $2000 is a lot of money, but in the grand scheme, for a human to only be able to have lifetime assets of that, it’s sad. I think there’s a part of him that wants to accrue. I’ve suggested something like an ABLE account. No more suggesting. I have to force this issue. Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.

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