If my mother set up a Special Needs Trust for me in her Will, is it possible to contest its unreasonably restrictive terms?
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If my mother set up a Special Needs Trust for me in her Will, is it possible to contest its unreasonably restrictive terms?
My mother set up a Special Needs Trust for me but the terms are so restrictive that in the end, it hardly helps me at all. I live in public housing, I’m legally disabled, and live on a monthly income of $762 a month. I am 64-years-old and the amount in the SNT is well over a quarter of a million dollars. According to the Will, I can never leave public housing and I can’t even use and I can’t use any of the Trust to buy groceries The lawyers keep asking me what my needs are, and when I say
Asked on May 11, 2018 under Estate Planning, Missouri
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, there are no grounds to challenge, modify, or invalidate a trust because you believe its terms unreasonably restrictive. Remember: you had no legal right whatsoever regarding this money--your mother did not have to set up the trust or leave it to you in any form whatsover (e.g. she could have given or left the money to others or to charity, or simply spent it). Since you have no inherent right to the money, your mother was free, if she wanted to give it to you or create a trust for your benefit, to put the money into any structure she wanted or put any rules or restrictions she chose on it. Be glad you have any assistance from this trust, when it would have been perfectly legal for you to have received nothing from your mother.
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