If a family member’s mental health issues may interfere with their ability to manage finances, answering these questions could help them create long-term financial stability.Setting up a trust is one way to transfer wealth to a loved one and create financial stability for them. A trust enables you to leave specific instructions for trustees about how to care for your loved one and distribute assets.
Likewise, you can request money be allocated to health care expenses and anything else that helps them live a healthy and functional life. Having a trust in place can also help beneficiaries avoid probate, a court process for handling estates that could be stressful for someone who has a mental illness.Another important question to ask is whether the person receives government assistance or may need to in the future.
“The special needs trust is meant to supplement government benefits that person is receiving. It doesn’t replace it, it’s meant to supplement it,” Nkenchor says. “If they are not familiar with estate administration, if they’re not familiar with the documents that give them the authority, they’re not familiar with their actual authority, then that can be harmful,” Utsey says.