Your Estate Plan and Disabled Children: Things to Keep in Mind

Your Estate Plan and Disabled Children: Things to Keep in Mind
August 9, 2017 jersey Special Needs Planning 0 Comments

Is it possible that you’ve just assumed you’ll be around for many years to help care for your disabled child? In many cases, parents of children with special needs have become an important component of assisting their child on a daily basis. Without any proper planning, though, the transition for your loved one to manage things without structure could present unique challenges. That’s where a NJ estate planning lawyer can help.

For the parents of any child with a disability, estate planning is of critical importance. Without appropriate estate planning conducted by the parents, a disabled child who may be unable to live on his or her own could be left very vulnerable and at risk. Some of the critical legal considerations that a parent of any disabled child should consider include:

-Selecting a guardian

-Determining an appropriate method to pass on an inheritance that will not impact the child’s ability to collect public assistance

-Disinheriting the child so that he or she will be able to continue receiving public assistance

One popular tool for parents of disabled children is called a special needs trust. This is designed for those parents who wish to transfer assets to the disabled child without affecting the child’s ability to continue to pursue public assistance benefits such as disability from the government. You can calculate how much money your child will need in order to receive the desired level of care over the duration of his or her life and factor in the anticipated public assistance payments. Putting this together in a special needs trust can be accomplished after consulting with a lawyer.

 

 

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