Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Bilirakis showcased his support of U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s, D-NJ, “Deborah Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act" which “would allow veteran participants in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to take full advantage of Special Needs Trusts”

Florida Government & Politics

Gus Bilirakis Want to Improve Special Need Trusts for Veterans’ Families

Bilirakis showcased his support of U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s, D-NJ, “Deborah Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act” which “would allow veteran participants in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to take full advantage of Special Needs Trusts”

This week, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., showcased his support of U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s, D-NJ, “Deborah Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act” which “would allow veteran participants in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to take full advantage of Special Needs Trusts” since “beneficiaries were unable to change their beneficiaries to incorporate the trusts” under current law.

Sherrill introduced the bill last week with Bilirakis as the only co-sponsor so far. On Monday, Sherrill said the proposal will help veterans their families.

“The Survivor Benefit Plan is an earned benefit for our men and women in uniform,” said Sherrill. “The families of our service members deserve to take full advantage of the program. Many of our veterans with dependents with special needs, including Deborah Nixon in my district, haven’t been able to designate their children as beneficiaries for fear of imperiling the other benefits their dependent receives. It is past time for that to change.”

“As a father of three adult children, I know that job of parenting never really ends. However, parents of children or adults with special needs face unique challenges as they prepare for the long-term needs of their child,” said Bilirakis. “Our legislation removes bureaucratic barriers and helps make this an easier process for these families. This is one additional way we can make sure our nation’s heroes are fully able to access the benefits they’ve earned with as much flexibility as possible.”

“Congress allowed SBP enrollees to designate a Special Needs Trust as their beneficiary in 2014, as long as they had previously designated ‘Spouse and Child’ or ‘Child Only’ as their beneficiary,” Bilirakis’ office noted. “Unfortunately, veterans with special needs dependents who had already designated ‘Spouse Only’ to avoid jeopardizing their child’s other benefits were not given the opportunity to change their designee. The legislation is named after Deborah Nixon, a Veteran of the Uniformed Public Health Corps, who was unable to change her beneficiary after the 2014 SBP changes. With this legislation, she would be able to designate her child’s Special Needs Trust and ensure that they receive these earned benefits. The Deborah Nixon Special Needs Trust Inclusion Act would authorize a limited benefits open season to allow those enrollees to change their designee to ‘Spouse and Child’ or ‘Child Only’ to allow their children to take full advantage of the benefit their parent earned. The legislation would also designate the creation of a Special Needs Trust as a qualifying life event and allow parents to change their designee once the trust has been established.”

The bill was sent to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee last week. So far, there is no companion measure in the U.S. Senate.

 

Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.

 

Author

  • Kevin Derby

    Originally from Jacksonville, Kevin Derby is a contributing writer for Florida Daily and covers politics across Florida.

    View all posts

Archives

Related Articles

Advertisement
Florida Daily
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

HOW WE COLLECT E-MAIL INFORMATION:

If you sign up to subscribe to Florida Daily’s e-mail newsletter, you will provide us your e-mail address and name, voluntarily, and we will never obtain any of your contact information that you don’t voluntarily provide.

HOW WE USE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS IF YOU VOLUNTARILY PROVIDE IT TO US:

If you voluntarily provide us with your name and email address, we will use it to send you one email update per weekday. Your email address will not be given to any third parties.

YOUR CONTROLS:

You will have the option to unsubscribe to our E-mail update at anytime by clicking an unsubscribe link that will be provided in each E-Mail we send.