Family Estate Planning to Protect Children with Special Needs (part II)
Parents of children with special needs are typically aware that their child may need to be financially eligible for important governmental programs through Medicaid, SSI or the DDD. Under these programs, there is an limit on the amount of assets the child can have. These parents will often consider (1) leaving the child’s share of the estate in a supplemental needs trust, or (2) not...
Not all Discretionary Trusts are Special Needs Trusts
Over the years in my practice I have encountered many situations in which a discretionary trust was written into a Will to receive the inheritance of a person who had disabilities. Often the testator (person who was signing the Will) specifically wanted to protect the funds becuse they knew the person with disabilities relied on government programs like Medicaid or SSI. However, since the...
Thinking of retiring? Review your estate plans
As you begin making your plans for retirement, don’t neglect to prepare or update your estate plan. Your plan may be decades-old, or maybe you never even signed any documents for a plan. It’s a good idea to start thinking about a variety of issues at this time. Here are some of them.
It’s important to sign a Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care proxy to designate the...