eCourse
Answer Bar: Considering a Special Needs Trust
Contains material from Apr 2024 to Apr 2026
Answer Bar: Considering a Special Needs Trust
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Session 1: Special Needs Trusts 101: The Basics - An overview of the basics of special needs trusts and public benefits including selection of appropriate trust options, pitfalls to avoid, and case examples.
Session 3: Redlining the Basics with 1st Party SNT - Dissect a basic first-party SNT to highlight best practices with various key provisions, a walk-through relevant POMS provisions, and other practical tips in evaluating the use(s) of a first-party SNT.
Session 4: Maximizing Public Benefits - Discuss how to identify what benefits your client has; what additional benefits they may be eligible for; what distributions by a trustee (or anyone) will make them ineligible; and what distributions will keep them eligible for those benefits.
Session 5: Beneficiaries That Work: Important Questions to Ask and Strategies to Consider - Beneficiaries with special needs often find opportunities that provide meaningful personal benefits and generate income. As trustee managing a special trust for a beneficiary who is receiving income from performing work, it is imperative to understand how to advocate for a beneficiary and help that person remain eligible for government benefits.
Session 6: Looking Back to Look Forward: Planning for Special Needs Beneficiaries - Many families and individuals with disabilities are asking how the recently enacted "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" will affect their benefits and support programs. This program looks at those concerns through a long-term lens—examining how such changes might impact a 17-year-old with a significant disability who is expected to live another seventy years. By looking back over the past seventy years of disability and social service reform, we can better anticipate the challenges she is likely to face in the decades ahead. The session also highlights best practices for designing and administering special needs trusts that remain flexible, sustainable, and responsive to evolving legal, financial, and care environments.
Session 7: Sole Benefit Trusts: What, When, and Why - Focus on the uses of Sole Benefit Trusts, including distinguishing them from other types of special needs trusts. It will include practical application, hypothetical situations, and sample language.
Session 8: A Quick Trust Tax Tutorial - You don’t need to be a tax lawyer, but every special-needs planner should know at least the basics of trust income tax. Explore key rules in an accessible way for non-tax practitioners.
Session 9: ABLE Accounts 101 - Gain insight into what Texans need to know about the age adjustment act.
Session 10: Special Needs Trusts Ethics Jeopardy - Attorneys and trustees need to clearly understand their ethical obligations. Using the Jeopardy game show format, in this interactive session, the presenters cover various ethical issues encountered in a special needs practice, providing the answers while the audience provides the questions.
Includes: Video Captions Audio Transcript Paper Slides
- Total Credit Hours:
- 7.50 | 2.50 ethics
- Credit Info
- TX, CA, PA
- TX MCLE credit expires: 4/30/2027
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Sessions
Credit
1.
Special Needs Trusts 101: The Basics (Apr 2026)
Molly Dear Abshire
1.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
Downloadable Materials
Transcript
(txt)
Paper
(pdf)
– 53 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 52 pgs
Session 1 —63 mins 1.00
Special Needs Trusts 101: The Basics (Apr 2026)
An overview of the basics of special needs trusts and public benefits including selection of appropriate trust options, pitfalls to avoid, and case examples.
Originally presented: Feb 2026 Special Needs Trusts
Molly Dear Abshire,
Wright Abshire Attorneys, P.C. - Bellaire, TX
2.
The Ethics of SNT Administration (Apr 2024)
Mary Alice Jackson, Rebecca C. Morgan, Bryn A. Poland
1.00
1.00
0.00
1.00 | 1.00 ethics
Downloadable Materials
Paper
(pdf)
– 1 pgs
Paper
(pdf)
– 23 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 11 pgs
Session 2 —58 mins 1.00 | 1.00 ethics
The Ethics of SNT Administration (Apr 2024)
In this session, the presenters review the decisions a trustee makes in administering a trust, the standards a trustee should use in making decisions, and a framework to make sure the trustee’s decisions and actions are ethical.
Originally presented: Feb 2024 Special Needs Trusts
Mary Alice Jackson,
Boyer & Boyer P.A. - Sarasota, FL
Rebecca C. Morgan,
Stetson University College of Law - Gulfport, FL
Bryn A. Poland,
Mayo & Poland PLLC - Baytown, TX
3.
Redlining the Basics with 1st Party SNT (Apr 2024)
John B. Henry III
0.75
0.25
0.00
0.75 | 0.25 ethics
Downloadable Materials
Paper
(pdf)
– 66 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 26 pgs
Session 3 —43 mins 0.75 | 0.25 ethics
Redlining the Basics with 1st Party SNT (Apr 2024)
Dissect a basic first-party SNT to highlight best practices with various key provisions, a walk-through relevant POMS provisions, and other practical tips in evaluating the use(s) of a first-party SNT.
Originally presented: Feb 2024 Special Needs Trusts
John B. Henry III,
Law Office of John B. Henry, III, PLLC - Bellaire, TX
4.
Maximizing Public Benefits (Apr 2026)
H. Clyde Farrell, Christina Lesher
1.00
0.25
0.00
1.00 | 0.25 ethics
Downloadable Materials
Transcript
(txt)
Paper
(pdf)
– 311 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 35 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 25 pgs
Session 4 —58 mins 1.00 | 0.25 ethics
Maximizing Public Benefits (Apr 2026)
Discuss how to identify what benefits your client has; what additional benefits they may be eligible for; what distributions by a trustee (or anyone) will make them ineligible; and what distributions will keep them eligible for those benefits.
Originally presented: Feb 2026 Special Needs Trusts
H. Clyde Farrell,
Farrell & Johnson PLLC - Austin, TX
Christina Lesher,
The Law Office of Christina Lesher, PC - Houston, TX
5.
Beneficiaries That Work – Important Questions to Ask and Strategies to Consider (Apr 2026)
Elizabeth N.R. Friman
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.50
Downloadable Materials
Transcript
(txt)
Paper
(pdf)
– 7 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 10 pgs
Session 5 —33 mins 0.50
Beneficiaries That Work – Important Questions to Ask and Strategies to Consider (Apr 2026)
Beneficiaries with special needs often find opportunities that provide meaningful personal benefits and generate income. As trustee managing a special trust for a beneficiary who is receiving income from performing work, it is imperative to understand how to advocate for a beneficiary and help that person remain eligible for government benefits.
Originally presented: Feb 2026 Special Needs Trusts
Elizabeth N.R. Friman,
Fleming & Curti, PLC - Tucson, AZ
6.
Looking Back to Look Forward: Planning for Special Needs Beneficiaries (Apr 2026)
Stephen W. Dale, Peter J. Wall
0.75
0.25
0.00
0.75 | 0.25 ethics
Downloadable Materials
Transcript
(txt)
Paper
(pdf)
– 17 pgs
Paper
(pdf)
– 10 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 58 pgs
Session 6 —47 mins 0.75 | 0.25 ethics
Looking Back to Look Forward: Planning for Special Needs Beneficiaries (Apr 2026)
Many families and individuals with disabilities are asking how the recently enacted "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" will affect their benefits and support programs. This program looks at those concerns through a long-term lens—examining how such changes might impact a 17-year-old with a significant disability who is expected to live another seventy years. By looking back over the past seventy years of disability and social service reform, we can better anticipate the challenges she is likely to face in the decades ahead. The session also highlights best practices for designing and administering special needs trusts that remain flexible, sustainable, and responsive to evolving legal, financial, and care environments.
Originally presented: Feb 2026 Special Needs Trusts
Stephen W. Dale,
The Dale Law Firm, PC - Pacheco, CA
Peter J. Wall,
True Link Financial - Denver, CO
7.
Sole Benefit Trusts: What, When, and Why (Mar 2025)
Jennifer L. Coulter
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.50
Downloadable Materials
Paper
(pdf)
– 21 pgs
Session 7 —30 mins 0.50
Sole Benefit Trusts: What, When, and Why (Mar 2025)
Focus on the uses of Sole Benefit Trusts, including distinguishing them from other types of special needs trusts. It will include practical application, hypothetical situations, and sample language.
Originally presented: Feb 2025 Special Needs Trusts
Jennifer L. Coulter,
Townsend Allala, Coulter & Kludt, PLLC - El Paso, TX
8.
A Quick Trust Tax Tutorial (Apr 2024)
Eric Reis
0.75
0.00
0.00
0.75
Downloadable Materials
Paper
(pdf)
– 13 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 14 pgs
Session 8 —45 mins 0.75
A Quick Trust Tax Tutorial (Apr 2024)
You don’t need to be a tax lawyer, but every special-needs planner should know at least the basics of trust income tax. Explore key rules in an accessible way for non-tax practitioners.
Originally presented: Feb 2024 Special Needs Trusts
Eric Reis,
UNT Dallas College of Law - Dallas, TX
9.
ABLE Accounts 101 (Apr 2026)
Vanessa Goodson
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.50
Downloadable Materials
Transcript
(txt)
Paper
(pdf)
– 12 pgs
Slides
(pdf)
– 31 pgs
Session 9 —27 mins 0.50
ABLE Accounts 101 (Apr 2026)
Gain insight into what Texans need to know about the age adjustment act.
Originally presented: Feb 2026 Special Needs Trusts
Vanessa Goodson,
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts - Austin, TX
10.
Special Needs Trusts Ethics Jeopardy (Mar 2025)
Mary Alice Jackson, Bryn A. Poland
0.75
0.75
0.00
0.75 | 0.75 ethics
Downloadable Materials
Slides
(pdf)
– 29 pgs
Session 10 —47 mins 0.75 | 0.75 ethics
Special Needs Trusts Ethics Jeopardy (Mar 2025)
Attorneys and trustees need to clearly understand their ethical obligations. Using the Jeopardy game show format, in this interactive session, the presenters cover various ethical issues encountered in a special needs practice, providing the answers while the audience provides the questions.
Originally presented: Feb 2025 Special Needs Trusts
Mary Alice Jackson,
Boyer & Boyer P.A. - Sarasota, FL
Bryn A. Poland,
Mayo & Poland PLLC - Baytown, TX