In response to criticism from disability advocates and the special needs planning community, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has removed several controversial examples that it only recently added to its Program Operations Manual System (POMS). The examples, which caused a firestorm of protest when introduced, appeared to take the position that a first-party special needs trust could not contain a provision allowing a trustee to compensate a trust beneficiary's family members for travel expenses incurred when they visit the beneficiary or when they assist a beneficiary with travel because the reimbursement would violate the "sole benefit" language of the trust.
Sources close to the SSA indicate that the examples were removed at the request of SSA commissioner Michael J. Astrue, who reportedly also had all of the other 2012 POMS changes taken down as well. New Jersey special needs attorney Thomas D. Begley, Jr., who has been closely following recent developments regarding the POMS, tells ElderLawAnswers that the removal of the POMS examples "looks like it is temporary until SSA decides what to do."
The POMS changes were apparently on the agenda at a meeting between Commissioner Astrue and senior SSA staff members that was held on Friday, January 4, but it is unclear at this point whether the SSA's restrictive reading of the "sole benefit" rule will remain in place or if the withdrawal of the recent POMS language signals a thawing of the SSA's approach to sole benefit questions, so attorneys remain in limbo until further clarification emerges from Washington.
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