Kroll v. New York State Dept. of Health, 39 N.Y.S.3d 183 (Oct. 5, 2016); see also In re Kroll, 971 N.Y.S.2d 863, 865 (Sur. Ct. 2013) -

Court approves “decanting” of a trust to effectively remove a beneficiary’s future mandatory withdrawal right, thereby allowing the beneficiary to continue to qualify for governmental benefits.

Facts: A grandfather established a trust for his grandson. The grandson had certain disabilities for which he received Medicaid and Social Security income from New York state. Under the terms of the trust, when the grandson turned 21, he would have the right to withdraw all of the trust assets. At that time, the assets of the trust would be considered an available resource, thereby disqualifying the grandson from governmental benefits until the funds of the trust were depleted.