All beneficiaries must be determined to be disabled or meet the Social Security definition of disabled, and may be:

• Nursing Home Residents
• Personal Injury award recipients
• Wards in a guardianship
• Inheritance recipients
• Applicants or recipients of Public Assistance Programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

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The Guardian Trusts funds can be used for anything that will benefit the beneficiary physically, emotionally, or spiritually. 

REMEMBER: Please remember, accordng to Federal law, we are not permitted to make distributions from the Trust account after the death of the Beneficiary.

If you have not already purchased prepaid burial arrangements, we strongly encourage the purchase of an irrevocable prepaid burial agreement.  We are not able to pay for or reimburse for these expenses after the passing of the Beneficiary.  Contact us with any questions. 

Types of distributions that are acceptable:

• Clothing
• Attorney's fees
• Guardian's fees
• Services of a care manager
• Computer, TV, movies
• Medical insurance
• Telephone and cellular phone
• Vacation and travel for the Beneficiary
• Travel expenses of relatives coming to visit
• Medical care such as alternative procedures or alternative medications
• Prepaid Burial Arrangements
• Adapted vehicles or vans

NOTE: If a Beneficiary is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), care must be taken to avoid use of the trust funds for "shelter expenses."

Click on this link to see details of special rules for SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI) recipients

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The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA 1993) is the Federal Law that brought us the Guardian Pooled Trust. The federal statute permitting Pooled Trusts is 42 U.S.C. 1396 p (d)(4)(C). It reads:

(C) A trust containing the assets of an individual who is disabled (as defined in section 1382c (a)(3) of this title) that meets the following conditions:

(i) The trust is established and managed by a non-profit association.

(ii) A separate account is maintained for each beneficiary of the trust, but, for purposes of investment and management of funds, the trust pools these accounts.

(iii) Accounts in the trust are established solely for the benefit of individuals who are disabled (as defined in section 1382c (a)(3) of this title) by the parent, grandparent, or legal guardian of such individuals, by such individuals, or by a court.

(iv) To the extent that amounts remaining in the beneficiary's account upon the death of the beneficiary are not retained by the trust, the trust pays to the State from such remaining amounts in the account an amount equal to the total amount of medical assistance paid on behalf of the beneficiary under the State plan under this subchapter.

The State of Florida has incorporated the Federal Law into the Economic Self-Sufficiency Manual at section 1640.0576.08. This is the Manual state workers use to determine eligibility for Florida Public Assistance Programs. The Manual states:

A trust containing the assets of an individual who is disabled, if:

1. it was established on or after 10/01/93;
2. the trust is established and managed by a nonprofit association;
3. a separate account is maintained for the beneficiary of the trust but, for purposes of investment and management, the trust pools the accounts;
4. the trust is established solely for the disabled individual by a parent, grandparent, legal guardian, court or the individual himself; and
5. to the extent that amounts remaining in the trust upon the individual's death are not retained by the trust, the trust pays to the state an amount equal to the total amount of medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual.

Guardian Pooled Trust members can be any age but must be disabled. However, there does not need to be a formal determination of disability by Social Security.

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Guardian Trust is professionally and conservatively invested. Assets are pooled together for economic scale; however each beneficiary's sub-account has its own accounting and objective.

For some Beneficiaries the money market or short term government bond fund will be sufficient to meet their needs. Other Beneficiaries will benefit from the option of a wide array of mutual funds, government backed investments or a customized, professionally managed portfolio.

Contact our Invesment Advisor for any further questions you may have regarding how the funds are invested.  Mr. Poteet can be reached at 800-669-2499, Option 3, or via email (click here).

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In order to provide peace of mind to our Beneficiaries, we house our liquid funds at FDIC insured financial institutions.  We also have insurances which provide coverages under an Errors and Omissions policy and a Fidelity (Crime) policy. We will provide a copy of these insurances upon request.

In addition, we utilize an independent auditing firm (Lewis, Birch & Ricardo, LLC) to conduct an audit of all of our procedures and accountings.

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Our fees are very competitive.  Although they are not the lowest that you will find, we do not charge extra fees for phone calls, distribution requests, mailings, account balaces, etc.  Please call us at 800-669-2499 for more information or if you have any questions.  Click the link below to see a copy of our current fee schedule.

Click here for our current fee schedule.

If you do not have Adobe Reader, download it for free here.

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YES! We have had beneficiaries join our trust by leaving other Pooled Trusts.

Are you not able to get up-to-date accountings with your current Pooled Trust? Are you dissatisfied with the service provided to you by your current Pooled Trust?

We want to make it easy for you to transfer from your current pooled trust to the Guardian Pooled Trust. Outside of a guardianship, you do not need a court order, just direct your current trustee to distribute the entire remaining account according to our joining instructions under the Membership Procedure tab. For those of you in guardianships, you will need a court order. We have set up a sample Petition and Order for transferring between Pooled Trusts to help get you going in the right direction. We look forward to assisting you with our outstanding service and commitment.

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Here is some sample language your attorney can use to draft provisions to fund a Guardian Special Needs Trust sub-account for your loved one, using your Will or Trust.

“I give and bequeath (the sum of $___________OR ____%) of my estate to the Trustees of The Guardian Special Needs Trust dated December 17, 2009 (“the Trust”), as Trustees for the benefit of_____________, the beneficiary of this share.

Said funds to be held In Trust for the uses and purposes and upon the terms contained in the Trust, and further subject to the following terms and conditions. (Attorneys may wish to add specific clauses with respect to their client’s wishes.)

Upon the death of the said beneficiary, the principal and income then remaining, after the application of Sections 6.1 and 6.2 of the Trust, shall be paid as follows:

_______________________________________________________________________________”

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The proper way to request a distribution from the trust account is to submit a completed and signed Distribution Request Form.  This can be done via mail, e-mail, or fax.

It is imperative that the proper documentation (receipts, invoices, etc.) supporting the request is submitted with the Distribution Request Form.

Please call us at 800-669-2499, Option 3, or email us with any questions regarding this process.

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We do not have a maximum number of distributions that can be made from the trust account.  We understand that a Beneficiary's needs may vary from month to month, making it impossible to estimate what a "reasonable number" of distributions will be requested. 

We pride ourselves on not charging these sometimes hidden fees that other Special Needs Trust administration companies charge their clients.  Please contact us with any questions you may have. 

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