Special needs planning — What happens when parents die?
October 9th, 2008
From the Wall Street Journal:
A growing number of financial service companies are springing up to help parents provide for the future care of their children with disabilities. They help navigate the maze of federal and state programs, and assist parents in setting up trusts, coordinating estate plans, and educating future caregivers.
These tasks have become increasingly vital as people with disabilities are living longer than ever before, frequently outliving the parents who support them.
Miami lawyer Barry Nelson (far left) set up a special-needs trust for his fourteen-year-old son Jesse, who has autism. The trust will be funded by life insurance when Nelson dies, and can be used to pay for expenses beyond what Medicaid or SSI would pay for.
Nelson says a special-needs trust “gives me — and it gives every parent — peace of mind.”
A sidebar provides a list of financial planning resources.
(Wall Street Journal photo)
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on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 10:47 am and is filed under Down syndrome, Medicaid/Medicare, NOT2BEMISSED, News_2_Use, autism, families, insurance, intellectual/developmental disabilities, parents, personal finances, social security, tips & wisdom.
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October 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Wills and trusts are important for babies and very young children with disabilities, too. I recall hearing one attorney mention that if both parents are lost, the first relative to arrive can take the children home with them and a custody battle may ensue if other family members try to intervene. A will needs to be written with a reference to a special needs trust for the sibling with a disability, as I recall. Grandparents need to be aware of the special needs trust aspect for their wills, too, and might appreciate copies of a good article or a list of resources to show their attorneys. Most lawyers will have had no experience with families of children with disabilities.
We also need to consider what happens as parents age, not just when we are gone. We want our sons and daughters to enjoy spending time with us in our older years, and they want us to be there and healthy while marking milestones and during times of celebration. We can also write a letter describing significant people in our children’s lives who we don’t want them to lose when we are gone. We might want our aging children to visit us if we find ourselves in an assisted living facility without convenient, inexpensive or available transportation.
Future planning means considering joyful times as well as sad events — and the ordinary pleasures that we find day to day.
Pam W
SE of Seattle
Disability and Future Planning for Parents
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59032.asp