SSA Publishes Emergency Message Notices About Trust Required to Include Explanations

Thanks to the SNT Advocates, including NAELA members Mary O’Byrne and Neal Winston, the SSA has published an emergency message requiring more detailed notice to applicants when a trust causes the applicant to be over-resourced for SSI.

The new instructions require that in cases where a manual notice is required due to excess resources that include a trust, the SSA notice must include:

1. Information on the applicable section of the trust or joinder agreement containing the problem or issue,
2. The POMS citation that contains the policy requirements on the subject, and 
3. A reference to where the POMS can be found online.

The instructions are available online. The SNT Advocates are hopeful that this new policy instruction will help trust beneficiaries, trustees, and their counsel to remedy issues with trusts more quickly and efficiently.

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.