Even if a special needs trust is properly prepared, the special needs trust can affect the child's ability to receive government benefits if the special needs trust is not properly administered.

For example, recipients of supplemental security income (SSI) are entitled to receive $20 of unearned income per month without reduction in SSI benefits. Receipt of unearned income in excess of $20 per month, however, results in a dollar-for-dollar reduction in benefits.

Because distributions from special needs trusts are considered unearned income, distributions in excess of $20 per month result in a benefit reduction. In addition, using trust property to provide food or shelter for the person with a disability results in unearned income as well.

How can this limitation on trust distributions be avoided?

Have the special needs trust purchase items for the person with a disability and retain ownership, permitting the person with a disability to use, but not own, the property, and do not use the special needs trust to provide food or shelter.

Under the SSI eligibility rules, special needs trust distributions that do not result in the person with a disability receiving food or shelter, or anything that can be used to obtain these items, do not count as unearned income.

Thus, the trustee can use the special needs trust assets to pay for items such as vacations, recreation and leisure activities, companion or housekeeping services, special job training, vocational or employment supports, lawn care, laundry services, CD players, television sets, VCRs, computers, medical insurance, improved medical or dental care, telephone bills, or furniture without any reduction in benefits.

If, instead, the trustee were to give the person with a disability the money to pay for these items, the distribution to the person with a disability would count as unearned income, resulting in a possible reduction in benefits.

Similarly, if the person with a disability were to actually own, rather than merely have the right to use, the item purchased, the receipt of the item would be considered unearned income because the item could be sold and converted to cash.

The trustee will also be required to perform various administrative functions related to the special needs trust. The trustee will need to obtain a taxpayer identification number and file annual tax returns.

Generally trust income that is used for the beneficiary will be taxed to the beneficiary, and the trustee may need to help the beneficiary with his or her taxes as well. Trust income that is not used for the beneficiary will be taxed directly to the special needs trust.

The trustee will generally have a fair amount of discretion in investing trust assets, but investments should generally be conservative in order to preserve the property in the special needs trust for the benefit of the person with a disability.

Investment in tax-exempt securities may be advisable both to protect the special needs trust property and due to the generally high rate of tax applicable to trust income.

The trustee will need to keep good records of trust income and expenditures both because the special needs trust document is likely to require that accountings be provided to a person specified in the document, and because trust activity may later be questioned by the government to make sure that the trust has not been administered in a way that affects the beneficiary's entitlement to government benefits.

The trustee will also need to be sure to avoid commingling property in the special needs trust with other property owned by the trustee or the beneficiary of the trust.

Many Police Officers who aggressively enforce DWI or Drunk Driving Laws are aggressive in other aspects of their job. Aggressive officers generate more than their share of citizen complaints and ensuing internal investigations. This makes for fertile ground in discovery for a defense attorney IF they know where to look. This bulletin is designed to instruct a defense attorney where to look for buried skeletons concerning their arresting officer. It is imperative that you know how to ask for information, what to ask for, and where to look within a police organization.

HOW & WHERE TO ASK:

Your success will depend on how thorough and effective you are in seeking this information. "Give them ONLY what they ask for..." is what legal counsel for police agencies will tell record custodians in responding for requests for documents buried deeply within the bowels of a police organization. So the FIRST thing you need to know is to be careful how you craft your requests. For example: A requests for information reading as follows: "All citizen complaints, etc...wherein Officer Jones...received departmental discipline..." will yield ONLY the complaints where a citizen’s complaint was supported with enough evidence that the officer was disciplined. More often than not, officers are NOT disciplined in citizen complaints where it is the officer's word against the citizen's. So a requests crafted in this fashion will likely not reveal all the citizen complaints where the officer has lied his way out of it. Remember, cops aren't stupid! They're generally not going to screw up when they know independent witness or a video-camera is present. You have to use the magic-words in your request!

WHAT TO ASK FOR: (The "personnel records" game.)

A request for an officer's "personnel file" will usually yield butt-kiss! (Unless you find mundane city personnel forms interesting reading.) Know that nearly all law enforcement agencies effectively hide their internal matters concerning officer's conduct in locations other than the officer's personnel file. You still need to ask for that because there will likely be valuable information concerning the officer's training, but don't stop there. In larger agencies that have an Internal Affairs Division, here is where you will usually find the Mother-Load of information! But don't limit it to that division. Craft your requests to include "all departmental internal investigations involving citizen, officer or supervisor complaints..." Also know that most internal affairs divisions keep a form of a rap-sheet, so to speak, on each officer. This will have a chronology of all matters investigated on this particular officer. Ask for that as well to be sure you got everything. Also, most internal affairs divisions maintain a master-log of all matters investigated including the personnel involved. This can be fertile ground for an attorney that does a lot of litigation with officers from one particular agency. Also, many police officers are rogues, traveling from agency to agency as their misdeeds catch up with them. Be especially wary of officers from small departments where their officers are paid hourly and there is a high turnover. A rookie starting out is one thing, but a seasoned and experienced officer? There a problem somewhere! In the "personnel file" you'll find their two-page city application that nobody looked at. This is worthless compared to their "Personal History Statement." These are basically a book the officer filled out in applying for their job where they were told to spill-their-guts about everything they've ever done wrong and they would likely be polygraphed on their responses. Also ask for performance appraisals/evaluations and reprimands/counseling/coaching reports.

Lawyer is one person who can take you out from any legal tangle and that too without many hassles. One of the chief advantages of having a personal lawyer is that you can contact him at point of time and discuss the matter or your case in emergency. There are a variety of cases that may come across you in your life. Accidental case, personal injury case, theft or fraud case, criminal case and many others are there that are handled by various lawyers. If you happen to stuck in personal injury case, then personal injury lawyer will surely help you out.

Anytime in your lifespan you can encounter such situations that drag you in personal injury case. It may happen that someone has hit you or your vehicle by car and you are hurt because of that. This is the absolute case of personal injury and a qualified personal injury lawyer New York will help you in getting compensation from the party that is at fault. Usually, what happens is that you have to file a suit first in the court and then send a notice to the defaulter for appearing in the relative court. After that your personal injury lawyer would present your side before the court. Well, such sorts of lawyers are of a great help to all those people who are willing to recover a sum of money from the opposition party, as compensation.

Recovering any compensation from any company or personal requires a lot of legal nuances and personal injury lawyer is quite proficient in handling these matters. It is always better for you to hire a personal lawyer, rather than going to public prosecutor for such cases. There are lots of personal injury lawyer that are present in New York and many other states, that can guide you through the proper legal pathway of going ahead in the case. They will tell you about the possibilities of opposition that you might come across during the case and their solutions. Many of them also acquaint you with those conditions that may drag you in trouble.

Well, a personal injury can be of any sort. It may happen due to any kind of accident, some medical malpractice or even due to theft in your premises. While hiring the personal injury lawyer, you need to take care that they are properly qualified for handling your case. It is better you discuss the case with some experienced professionals and not with amateurs. The reason behind this is that experienced personal injury lawyer will have a firm hand on latest and previous laws related to your case and will be able to chalk out solutions to all your problems.

If you are not able to find a personal injury lawyer in your area, then the best option would be to search on internet. On doing so, you will not get to know about numerous personal injury lawyer, but also about their addresses and contact information. This will enable you to have a direct conversation with them and discuss the case. Along with this information, you will also get to know about the rates they charge for providing their services. In this way, you will have complete information about them and will be able to hire the suitable one.

In the recent case of Chairman and Governors of Amweil View School v Mrs C Dogherty UKEAT/0243/06/DA, Mrs. Dogherty who was a teaching assistant at the Amweil View School, covertly recorded her disciplinary hearings and even the private deliberations of her employers who were considering her future employment. This article examines the state of the law on the use of covert recordings as evidence in the employment tribunal of an employer's conduct.

Use of covert recordings

Dogherty was dismissed for misconduct through the use of unreasonable force and inappropriate language in relation to some children. She relied upon her covert recordings to support her claim for unfair dismissal in the employment tribunal because she disputed the minutes of the open hearing of the disciplinary and appeal hearings produced by the school. She applied rather late in the day to have the evidence of her covert recordings admitted. The employment tribunal, by a case management order, allowed her to use the unauthorized recordings she had made of the disciplinary and appeal panel hearings, including the private deliberations. In other words, even though the employer did not know that the meeting nor the private deliberations were being recorded, that evidence could be used in the tribunal.

Appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal

The school appealed against the Order. It argued that Dogherty's clandestine recording of the deliberations of members of disciplinary and appeal panels amounted to an unjustified infringement of the governors' right to privacy, and that the public interest required those deliberations to remain private. Dogherty invoked her right to rely on the disputed evidence and to a fair hearing under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Applying XXX v YYY [2004] IRLR 471 the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that "the first and most important rule of the law of evidence...is that evidence is only admissible if it indeed is relevant to an issue between the parties." It had no hesitation in upholding the tribunal's finding that the material contained in the recordings was relevant to Dogherty's unfair dismissal claim.

A majority of the EAT was satisfied that the decision taken by the ET was within the range of responses that a reasonable tribunal might make and refused to interfere in the absence of any questions of law-Barracks v Coles (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening) [2006] EWCA Civ 1041 applied. Further, it was held, according to the overriding objective in the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1861) the tribunal could do justice by admitting the evidence, giving the school a full opportunity to consider it, and by penalising Dogherty in costs for disclosing the evidence late.

The school argued that to admit the disputed evidence would involve the ET itself infringing the human rights of the governors who were members of the relevant panels. However, the EAT rejected that what had occurred could possibly amount to the interference of the governors' right to respect for family life because the relationship between a governor and a member of their family was not "touched at all" by admission of the evidence in question.

Before parents decide whether their child with a disability needs some type of guardian, they should consider the alternatives to guardianship. These include special needs trusts, representative payees, and citizen advocates.

Special Needs Trusts

Special Needs Trusts are a highly recommended alternative to a guardian of the estate. Special needs trusts accomplish the same objective as the guardian of the estate, management of the assets of a person with a disability.

However, special needs trust offers several advantages as compared to guardians of the estate.

Chief among the advantages is a solution to the resource problems that might jeopardize the person's eligibility for governmental aid. To be eligible for many governmental benefits such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid, the person with a disability's total assets cannot exceed certain stated maximum amounts (often just $2,000).

However, amounts held for the person with a disability in properly drafted special needs trusts do not count as the person's assets for these purposes, while amounts managed for the person with a disability by a guardian of the estate are considered assets of the person with a disability.

Accordingly, if parents think their child with a disability may require government benefits after their death, it is better to leave money in a special needs trust for their child than to have a guardian of the estate appointed and leave money to their child outright.

Special needs trusts offer other advantages over guardians of the estate as well.

In order to secure proper financial management, it is not necessary to declare the person who has a disability incompetent. There is no need for the constant, detailed reports that a guardian of the estate must submit to the court. It is not necessary to get approval from the court for expenditures on behalf of the person. The posting of a bond is not required. (However, with a professional trustee there will be management fees.)

The trustee will also have greater flexibility in investing than a guardian of the estate, and parents can select a trustee without the approval of the court.

The trust document containing the duties of the trustee can be written to include all the preferences of the parents. While family objectives will vary, normally a special needs trust is a better alternative than a guardian of the estate.

Representative Payee

A representative payee is a person or organization authorized to cash and manage public assistance checks such as Supplementary Security Income and Social Security for a person considered incapable of managing the money.

The payee is appointed by the agency administering the funds. If the parents want a particular representative payee selected, they must notify the agency. If the representative payee is not a relative, service fees may be required.

The representative payee must keep an accurate record of all expenditures made on behalf of the person with a disability. The representative payee can be an alternative to a guardian of the estate when the only money the person with a disability receives is from the government or from a trust.