Special-Purpose Trust Can Help Parents Of Troubled Adult Children

Parents who find themselves at their wit’s end in trying to help troubled adult children, whether it’s due to mental illness or substance abuse, can at least take some definite actions to reduce the sorrow – their children’s and their own.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, what are called “special-purpose trusts” can help a great deal in these difficult situations.

“There are many painful, emotional issues surrounding crises like mental illness and addiction that affect children,” according to the story “But there are concrete financial steps parents can take that won’t worsen their child’s condition, enable their child’s addiction or, in the case of mental illness, run afoul of limitations on the number of assets a person can have and still qualify for government benefits.

“One starting point is a special-purpose trust, which can provide care for the suffering child and peace of mind for the parent.”

Such trusts, the article quotes Karen Francois, the chief personal trust officer at Evercore Trust Co., as saying are different from special-needs trusts, which are often used to pay for the extra things needed by those who are receiving government benefits.

“Special-purpose trusts can be used to provide children a semblance of the life they might have enjoyed without mental illness or addiction,” the story states.

“You might be working with a situation where, with an addictive individual, you could have some good years and some bad years,” Francois told the newspaper. “You want that latitude to make changes with the distributions.”