QUESTION
Disabled individual and an annuity
Asked on Jun 03rd, 2020 on Trusts and Estates - California
More details to this question:
Little back story. Mine and my sisters mother passed away last June. My sister is disabled and I gained conservatorship over her last December. Our mother left us an annuity and I received my portion of it. I haven’t touched my sisters because if she gets that money in her name it will disable all her benefits such as SS and Medi-cal. Is there a way to get her portion of the annuity to be in my name so it doesn’t go into her name and disable her benefits? The annuity company said they can’t just put it in my name. We live in San Diego.
1 ANSWER
3 Awards
What you can or should do with your sister's portion of the annuity depends on how much it is. If it's a relatively small amount, you can use her portion for her benefit: buy her clothes, a new recliner, pre-pay for her funeral. If you can do that kind of a spend-down, you would only be over-resource for SSI for one-month. So you sent SSI a check for one month's benefits, and report the receipt of the inheritance and the spend-down.
If it's a larger amount, you can work with an attorney to petition the court to allow you, as conservator, to establish a special needs trust to receive the annuity proceeds.
Answered on Jun 23rd, 2020 at 4:46 PM