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A roundup of elder law news and practice development articles culled from news sources across the nation during the week of April 16, 2024, to April 22, 2024.
READ MOREThe Supreme Court of the State of Kansas upholds the decision of a lower court in a case concerning the legal duty of a spouse to provide medical and subsistent care or summon medical care for the other spouse. In...
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FROM THE KNOWLEDGE BANK
Administrator-managed prepaid cards received official approval from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in its most recent update of the special needs trust POMS. SI 01120.201. True Link cards, a type of administrator-managed prepaid card, have been available to SNT trustees, guardians, and representative payees for some time. However, up until SSA’s recent statement, the rules around their use have been ambiguous. Not so anymore.
The True Link card is a reloadable Visa card that can easily be managed online. It enables administrators to disburse funds quickly, monitor transactions in real time, and download monthly statements. Cardholders benefit from greater independence and the ability to get what they need more quickly.
Each True Link card can be customized to block transactions that might negatively affect benefits, such as purchases at grocery stores, restaurants, and bars. Administrators can also set up the card to work only at specific, authorized merchants -- and nowhere else. (Prior to the recent update, administrators were advised to block SNT beneficiaries’ purchases at superstores such as Walmart and Target that sell food, because of uncertainty over how the SSA would treat them.) The online dashboard makes it easy to prevent ATM withdrawals and cash-back transactions, and the card cannot be sold or exchanged. The card’s customizable controls make it distinct from gift cards, credit cards, and standard debit cards, thereby overcoming the limitations of other payment mechanisms.
Guidelines for effectively using administrator-managed prepaid cards like True Link are now expressly provided in the POMS. When the trustee is the owner of the prepaid card account, the card is the trustee’s resource, not the beneficiary’s. Therefore, to protect the beneficiary and the trust from making inappropriate disbursements, the trust must be the account owner and administrator. If the beneficiary uses the card to obtain cash from the SNT, the withdrawal will count as income. If the beneficiary uses the card to pay for food or shelter, the disbursements will be considered as In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) payments. Because of this, trustees or administrators need no longer block purchases from superstores selling food. Instead, they can collect receipts to verify that purchases were non-food items.
To read the new POMS on SNTs and administrator-managed cards, SI 01120.201 I.1.e, click here.
You can find more information on True Link cards at https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/.
To read an earlier article on True Link cards, click here.
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