On June 19, 2012, Governor Snyder signed into law a series of bills designed to protect seniors and vulnerable adults from neglect and abuse. The bills modernize Michigan law by providing many of the same protections afforded to vulnerable youth.

Financial, emotional, and sexual abuse of seniors and vulnerable adults is a serious and common problem. It is often perpetrated by those in a position of trust and those closest to the victim. While the mental and emotional damages are incalculable, abuse and neglect may also result in major financial hardship. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 vulnerable adults are abused or neglected each year. Studies indicate that many seniors and vulnerable adults are forced to turn to social services as a result of financial exploitation, costing American taxpayers over $2 billion annually. However, many cases of abuse and neglect are never reported because of the risk of embarrassment or shame at having been defrauded.

The bills signed by Governor Snyder codify protections for seniors and vulnerable adults by providing reporting requirements, establishing protocols for investigations into abuse and neglect, clarifying what constitutes abuse and neglect, and increasing penalties for defrauding and embezzling from vulnerable adults. 

Trustees of first-party Special Needs Trusts (SNT) should be aware of a governing rule change that affects how trust funds may be used to pay for travel expenses for the family members of the trust beneficiary and his or her legal guardian.  

The SSA indicates that it will apply this new rule regardless of whether the SNT was created prior to or after the adoption of this rule change.   

First-party SNTs are funded with the disabled beneficiary's own assets and are most commonly used to allow the disabled beneficiary to qualify for means-tested government benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI) administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The SSA requires that assets held in first-party SNTs be used for the "sole benefit" of the disabled beneficiary who was receiving SSI. However, it did permit the use of trust assets to pay for the reasonable out-of-pocket travel and lodging expenses for trips taken by a beneficiary's immediate family members and legal guardian to visit the beneficiary.  While this rule encouraged contact with the disabled beneficiary, the SSA perceived that it was susceptible to abuse by family members of the disabled beneficiary.

To curb perceived abuses, the SSA recently revised this rule.  Now, the assets held in a first-party SNT may not be used to pay for the travel expenses of the disabled beneficiary's family and legal guardian where that disabled beneficiary is the recipient of SSI.