Many individuals with special needs rely on government benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medi-Cal. These programs have strict income and asset limits. If your loved one receives an inheritance, it could immediately push them over these limits. The result? They lose their essential benefits. The money you intended to help them now forces them to “spend down” their inheritance just to requalify. It’s a heartbreaking and entirely avoidable situation. This is precisely the problem a Special Needs Trust solves.