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Trustee (of a Special Needs Trust)
Legal/Rights§ 01 — Definition
The trustee is the person or institution that holds and spends the trust's assets for the beneficiary. In a special needs trust the role is unusually demanding, because the trustee has both ordinary fiduciary duties — loyalty, prudent investment, impartiality, accurate records, tax filings — and benefits-specific ones. Distributions must be made FOR the beneficiary rather than TO them; cash handed to the beneficiary counts as income against SSI, and paying for food or shelter triggers SSA's in-kind support and maintenance reduction. Families commonly name a relative as trustee for judgment and a professional or corporate co-trustee for administration, and name successors several deep, since the trust may outlive everyone who signed it. A trust protector can be added with power to replace a trustee or amend the trust for changes in law.
§ 02 — Why it matters for benefits
A well-drafted trust administered by an untrained trustee can still cost the beneficiary their benefits. Choosing the trustee, naming successors, and leaving written guidance is as consequential as the trust document itself.
