How to not inherit when uncle dies w/o a will

Should the nephews be in line to inherit any assets, perhaps the agency that is currently overseeing the nephew's care (perhaps a case manager) or a family member, can arrange to hire an attorney to set up and have the funds placed in a self-settled special needs trust so that the nephews can continue to get public benefits, while the money in the special needs trust can be used to supplement those public benefits.

This is a rather complicated area of the law, because as you noted, the goal is to ensure the inheritance does not interfere with receiving needed public benefits. Additionally self-settled special needs trusts may only be created by parents/guardians, grandparents or a court. Unlike SNTs which are set up before the disabled person gets access to the money, a self-settled SNT would be required to pay back Medicaid upon the death of the disabled person.

Anyone can set up a third party trust for a disabled person. There is no payback requirement for a third party trust.

There are attorneys who focus in the area of special needs trusts if you would like to help the nephews with this matter. It sounds as if the family is already concerned enough to speak to an attorney to see how to handle this issue.

If you'd like to learn a little more about special needs trusts, feel free to check out my website. There is other good information online.

Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on since each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.