ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL OF RHODE ISLAND

Meeting will be held via Zoom.  Log-in information will be sent prior to the program.

Program Description:

A Special Needs Trust (SNT), or supplemental needs trust, is a legal document enabling assets to be held on behalf of someone with disabilities without affecting their eligibility for means-tested benefits. Assets held by the trust are not considered a “resource” when qualifying for the type of government benefits that are restricted to people with “resources” below a certain level, such as Social Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. An SNT provides for the maintenance of an individual with disabilities, by supplementing, rather than replacing, government benefits. A beneficiary will keep government benefits and still be able to access their Special Needs Trust. Most beneficiaries of a Special Needs Trust are eligible for, or seeking eligibility for, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.

Presenters:

Joan McGrath, CEO, PLAN

Joan McGrath, Chief Executive Officer, has been with PLAN since 2009. Prior to assuming the role of CEO, in February 2020, Joan was Director of Finance and Administration for PLAN and has more than 25 years of experience in professional accounting and finance. She has been an auditor with a “big four” public accounting firm, where she focused on high growth, emerging business clients. She also led her own private consulting practice, where she worked with nonprofits, service organizations, and venture capital startups. Joan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.  Joan is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council, the Estate Planning Council of Rhode Island, Academy of Special Needs Planners, Alliance of Pooled Trusts, National PLAN and is on the Alliance of Pooled Trusts Board and Best Buddies Advisory Board.

Elizabeth S. Phillips, Esq.; Managing Partner Hackman & Phillips Elder Law RI

Beth Phillips graduated from Colby College in 2000 and Roger Williams University School of Law in 2007. She was admitted to the Rhode Island and Massachusetts bars in 2007. In 2009 she was a founding member of Hackman & Phillips Elder Law RI, LLC. Beth is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and Academy of Special Needs Planners and serves on the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels Rhode Island.

Beth co-authored, “ABLE Accounts: A New Tool for Clients Receiving Means-Tested Benefits,” RI Bar Journal, Vol. 66 Num 2. September/October 2017. She has been an Honoree of the “Professional Excellence in the Law” in RI Monthly from 2019 to 2024.

Sponsored by