Special Needs Planning

Special Needs Planning focuses on providing for the unique needs of your loved one with disabilities when you are no longer present to organize and advocate on their behalf. Parents of children with special needs must make careful estate planning choices to coordinate the legal, financial, and special care needs of their children – both now and in the future. Without proper special needs planning, transferred assets, an inheritance or court settlement could render your special needs child ineligible for government benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which are critical lifelines for people with special needs.

A Special Needs Trust, also referred to as a Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT), provides funds to a disabled adult or special needs child without disqualifying them from government benefits.  Our law firm has experience working with parents and grandparents to create a Third-Party Special Needs Trust (SNT) for a special needs child or grandchild.  Third Party SNTs are designed as part of the parent’s or grandparent’s estate plan and allow the special needs child to receive the benefit of a gift that can help the child with his or her special needs while the parent is still living and it can also manage an inheritance for the child with special needs upon the parent’s or grandparent’s death.  Third-party SNTs can be included in a Last Will and Testament, established within a living trust designed to avoid probate or drafted as a stand-alone SNT.

Another part of special needs planning is a First-Party Special Needs Trust.  This type of trust protects government benefits for an individual who is receiving an inheritance or court settlement. A First Party SNT holds assets belonging to the special needs individual.  This type of SNT is most often used when the individual with a disability receives a lump-sum of money such as an inheritance or a court settlement.   A First Party SNT is also useful for older individuals who develop a disability after years of accumulating assets, and thereafter needs to qualify for government benefits with income or asset limitations.

We can help you protect your loved one’s future by assisting you with the establishment of a special needs trust that will provide benefits for your special needs family member while insuring their continued qualification for their government benefits that are a necessity for their well-being and health care.  We can help you from the birth of your child, as they transition into a special-needs teenager and then into adulthood. We can help as you face your own retirement and aging and must plan for the needs of a disabled spouse or parent.  We can provide you with the peace of mind that comes when you take the necessary steps to insure the protection of your special needs child or disabled spouse or parent.