My oldest son (26) is challenged by mental health issues (he's doing okay right now). His grandmother gave him $50k as a gift, and at the time, we set up a brokerage account with my wife as a signer (he can't get the money without her sign-off, but he hasn't tried anyway). He does not make enough money to pay all his bills, and has managed to get into subsidized housing in Virginia, but to get the subsidy these funds need to be put into a Special Needs Trust that he cannot access. We've already set up the trust, but we need to move the funds from the brokerage to the SNT. Questions:
- When setting up the SNT account, who is the grantor? My wife (who is working to set it up) is listed in the trust as the Settlor and Trustee. There's no mention of "Grantor."
- If yes, will her SSN suffice or do we need to get a TIN? These are the only two choices at Fidelity for the Grantor.
- If she is the grantor and uses her SSN to set up the Trust Account, will this affect our taxes at all? The account is taxable, and will be invested and (hopefully) growing through re-invested interest and dividends.
