Planning for the Future with a Special Needs Lawyer

 One of the important things a parent needs to consider is properly planning for children with special needs including if they are adults in age, when the parent dies. This means finding a qualified and experienced special needs lawyer in Monmouth County or local to you. They can help with things like ensuring they maintain their government benefits, access to Medicaid, and any additional support the parent might be able to offer.

 

Getting started

While you are looking for a financial planner, special needs lawyer or estate planning attorney, you can also take care of a couple of other things. You need to have a list of people who you completely trust who can fulfill different jobs for your child with special needs when you are no longer around. Make sure you talk to them about that role and involvement and have their contact details ready. You also need a list of all your assets, digital and tangible as well as your debts.

 

Talk about starting an SNT

With the special needs lawyer in Wall or any location, you can talk about having a Special Needs Trust or SNT put into place that will benefit your child with special needs. It is important to do this to help protect their eligibility for things like SSI (supplemental security income) and Medicaid. The assets placed in the trust do not belong to the child so it does not impact their eligibility. There are things those assets can cover that are not covered by benefits from the government like dental and medical care, things that improve their quality of life, getting to and from locations and such. When at all possible a lawyer will advise it is best to have a trust in place before the child becomes an adult.

 

Set them up with ABLE accounts

ABLE stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience. They are accounts for special needs people (though the condition needs to have started before being 26 years old). Money from an SNT can be moved into an account as it is needed and the person can access the money and use it. The parents can control how much they can spend in one outing.

 

Ensure the estate plan is in place

Estate planning with a special needs lawyer in Wall needs to be in place when you are the parent of special needs children, even more so than usual. They can name a guardian to look after them and raise them. In the Will, parents need to take care of what is left directly to their children without disqualifying them from government funds and help.

 

Include with the estate plan a letter of intent

The letter of intent is a document to give detail about what they want their child’s future to look like. With the help of a special needs lawyer in Monmouth County you can include as much detail as possible including routines, what they like, functional abilities, where they want them to live, care they want them to have. Because things change and children grow and their needs can change, the letter should be updated every few years.