Special Needs trust

Special Needs Trusts are created to ensure that beneficiaries who are developmentally disabled or mentally ill can receive inheritances without losing access to essential government benefits.

They are frequently founded from the proceeds of compensation for criminal injuries, litigation or insurance settlements. The use of a private discretionary trust can not only be more efficient in terms of taxation and access to government benefits but can also allow for more efficient investment of funds held than where funds are held by a court official (the Official Receiver in England and Wales).