Many people assume that their family will take care of their child with special needs if something happens to them. As a result, they name a family member in their will with the understanding that any money received would be used for the child’s benefit.
Unfortunately, that can be a recipe for disaster.
What if your family member lost their job because of a bad economy? One month they’re easily paying their bills and the next month they’re in hot water financially. Before they know it, their creditors have seized money that was supposed to be used for your child.
Civil lawsuits, divorce, bad investment decisions, and unexpected disability or death can also ruin your expectations for how your child would be supported.
Why Not Just Put Money for Your Child in His/Her Own Name?
To avoid all those problems, why not put money for your child in a bank account with his or her own name on it? Unfortunately, that’s also a bad idea. Here’s why:
As you know, medical costs for a child with special needs can be extraordinarily high. Unless you’re a millionaire several times over, the best and often only way to pay for medical care is through government programs like Medicaid.
In order to keep people who are able to work from gaming the system though, there are limits on how much income and assets a Medicaid recipient may receive.
For example, giving more than $2,000 to your child would disqualify them from receiving Medicaid, and it would cause them to have to spend the money before they can qualify for Medicaid again. You might as well just send money directly to the government.
A better alternative is to take advantage of some special rules Congress made for people with disabilities. They acknowledge the problem that most parents with a special needs child can’t afford to pay for their child’s medical care their entire lives. In addition, government programs can’t pay for everything everything your child needs either.
The solution is special needs trust as part of a uniquely tailored and comprehensive special needs plan.
Who I Am and How I Can Help You
Hi! My name is Kyle Rhodes. I’m an attorney, and I limit my practice solely to special needs planning. Special needs planning is unlike any other area of the law. In fact, many attorneys refer special needs planning cases to other attorneys because they don’t want to take the time to learn this confusing and complex area of the law
If you’ve done much research on the Internet about special needs planning, you probably know what I’m talking about when I say “confusing and complex.” Don’t feel bad. It took me many hours of studying to feel competent in this area of the law.
The key to creating a successful special needs plan is to get a basic knowledge about special needs planning and then use that knowledge to select professionals you trust.
What You Should Do Next
If that sounds like a good plan, I’d like to help. I’ve created a simple step-by-step plan to help you get started. You don’t even need to hire an attorney to do most of the steps. Click here to request that my Special Needs Planning Step by Step e-Course be delivered to your email inbox.
