EXAMPLE 1: The field office receives a special needs trust document to assess. During their
review of the trust, the field office discovers that the Medicaid payback provision
does not provide for payment to any State except for the State in which the individual
currently lives. The field office notes the trust includes a null and void clause
and the trustee assures the field office staff that the author of the trust, the family
attorney, said that would be sufficient to have it approved. The field office notifies
the trustee that, due to the incomplete Medicaid payback provision, the trust is not
excludable, as written.
EXAMPLE 2: The field office receives a trust document that meets all of the requirements for
exception for a section 1917 (d)(4)(A) trust. This trust also contains a null and
void clause. The field office approves the trust because, even though the trust includes
a null and void clause, the clause has no relevance. The trust meets the test of exception
without relying on the null and void clause.