Estate Planning for Special Needs Children

If you have a child with special needs, you are already on a unique journey. To ensure your child receives the best care and maximizes quality of life, you should sit down with an estate planning attorney. The process will be much easier and you can guarantee your child receives the best benefits possible!

With special needs children, a number of unique obstacles are presented. Families must exercise special care when making estate planning decisions involving special needs children. This is true whether the child(ren) with special needs is still a minor or an adult, especially if receiving public benefits such as SSI and Medicaid. Specific considerations will vary depending on the individual’s abilities, but the primary focus should still be to provide maximum benefit to the special needs child/adult’s life. Creating a solid estate plan can optimize the comfortability and quality of life of special needs children. Parents must be conscious of income, assets, and potential expenses when estate planning with special needs children in mind. In essence, special needs estate planning must focus on the preservation of public benefits while still putting aside to supplement.

Below are a list of options to consider when creating an estate plan with special needs children in mind.

• Make a Special Needs Trust

  The special needs trust is always best case scenario. It is by far the most beneficial and detailed option when estate planning for a loved one. These trusts allow beneficiaries access to proponents such as inherited money, settlements from lawsuits, and other pools of money while still maintaining an approved status for government programs that provide benefits for them like Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Survivor Benefits, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

  A special needs trust should be drafted with a special needs estate planning attorney to maximize benefit opportunities. Funds allocation must be set up in a way that doesn’t offer the beneficiary ownership so they remain eligible for public benefits. There are several types of special needs trusts, but the best options would be a discretionary trust or a spendthrift trust. Spendthrift trusts offer the trustee complete authority to make spending decisions for the beneficiary. This is a strong option because credit agencies cannot access funds in the trust and they aren’t technically under the beneficiary’s control. The discretionary trust is also a viable option as the trustee has extensive control over who gets the funds and when they get them.
• Transfer Care to Trustee

  This option is often considered when a child/adult suffers from severe physical/mental disabilities. These disabilities can affect independent living, holding down a job, and other basic necessities. By transferring care to a trustee – often a family member who is familiar with the special needs individual and the kind of care required to offer an enriching life) – parents ensure their child will have the best care and opportunities available. Careful consideration must be taken when selecting a trustee to care for your special needs child. They should be financially capable, familiar with the medical and health requirements/procedures required, and be able to set time aside for any necessary hospital visits, therapists appointments, and enrichment classes. Taking on a child/adult with special needs is a sizeable undertaking, especially if the trustee is not familiar with the specific care regiment required.

  In order to optimize quality of life, selecting someone who has knowledge or is willing to learn about all the procedures and practices involving the child is extremely important. Never assume that someone is capable until properly vetted.
• Disinheriting the Child

  This option is typically not considered and highly frowned upon, but in some cases, this can be an option worth considering. The only real benefit of this option is that in most instances, it ensures the preservation of government assistance.

  Disinheriting the child is an option that should only be considered as a last resort because beyond the government aid programs the child would be eligible for, it does very little to improve the child’s life.
• Should It Come Into Effect During Life or Death?

  All families with special needs children should consider whether they should incorporate a trust in their will or create a special needs living trust. Creating a testamentary special needs trust that goes into effect when the trustmaker dies can be a viable option as it is a much simpler process and more cost-effective approach to managing the beneficiary’s assets. On the negative side, any assets included in the testamentary special needs trust will be used to pay the creator’s creditors first in the instance that the estate doesn’t have enough additional assets to do so.

  The more ideal option is the living trust/inter vivos trust. There are several advantages to having this kind of trust including:

  • Avoiding a Probate
  • Other family members can supplement money in trust
  • Can be revocable or irrevocable

  An experienced estate planning attorney can help determine which option is best suited to the specific cases. Different families have different needs so one size doesn’t fit all. In order to maximize the benefits seen by special needs children/benefactors, careful estate planning strategies must be executed. You are their voice and must advocate for their best interests.

The post Estate Planning for Special Needs Children appeared first on New York Estate Planning Law Firm.

source https://trustsandestate.com/estate-planning-for-special-needs-children/