Special Needs Planning

Future Care Planning for Children and Adults with Special Needs

Would You Like to Make Sure Your Loved One With Special Needs Is Protected for Life?

What Is Future Care Planning For an Individual With A Disability?

Your estate plan should provide a comprehensive set of instructions that makes the transition of your family's resources as easy as possible when the time comes. Your plan should also preserve the disabled person's eligibility for critical government benefits—including Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income—through the use of a properly drafted Special Needs Trust.

If you are planning for the future care of a person with a disability, you should consider implementing the following steps soon, if you haven't done so already:

1. Name guardians for both the short term (if you are temporarily unable to take care of your child) and the long term (if you are permanently unable to take care of your child).
2. Identify the need for future care planning . . . . the critical issue is whether the person with a disability will be able to support themselves independently as an adult.
3. Consider adult guardianship and the alternative at age 18 . . . . so someone is able to make decisions on behalf of the person with a disability if he or she is unable to do so.
4. Plan for and secure essential government benefits at age 18 . . .  including Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The first step in order to schedule a PUNS interview is to contact your local Independent Service Coordinator. Click here for a list of Coordinators in Illinois.
5. Create a life care plan . . . to make sure that everyone knows exactly what to do when you are no longer there to take care of the person with special needs.
6. Prepare a Living Trust and Will . . . this makes the transition of financial resources upon your death as easy as possible on your family and loved ones.
7. Establish the right kind of Special Needs Trust . . . to make sure the person with special needs has money available to provide for their lifetime care needs.
8. Build a team . . . include your lawyer, financial advisor, CPA, social worker, and life care planner to make sure everyone knows what the plan is and how to implement it.
9. Provide enough financial resources . . . so the individual’s Special Needs Trust is adequately funded and can provide for supplemental needs.
10. Pass on more than just your money . . .  write or record a set of instructions to guide future caregivers and trustees as they take care of your child.

To find out more about planning for a child with special needs, go here.

Who Benefits From Special Needs Planning?
Families who have a loved one with special needs will benefit from putting in place a comprehensive estate plan, which includes a Special Needs Trust. In addition, an individual who is disabled and has received a person injury settlement or has received an inheritance outright and in their own name (rather than in the right kind of Special Needs Trust), will benefit from planning.

Schedule an appointment or telephone call to discuss special needs planning here.

What Should You Expect During the Planning Process?
The first step in the planning process is to talk with Gloria Albus, our Client Services Coordinator. You can call her at 630-871-8778 or request a call here. Gloria will ask you a few questions about your planning needs and let you know how our firm works and what to expect. If you would like to schedule an initial meeting with an attorney, Gloria will send you a new client information packet, which includes lots of useful information about us—including our fee ranges for planning.

The packet also includes a Personal Information Worksheet, which will help you start the information gathering process. Please go ahead and fill out the worksheet as best as you can and return it to our office prior to your initial meeting. In addition, please forward to us any current estate planning documents you have so that we will have an opportunity to review them before we meet. The initial meeting is a working meeting, and we want you to get as much out of it as possible. Gloria can help you if you have any questions.

At your initial meeting with either attorney Kirsten Izatt or attorney Bill Deitch, we will gather information about your family, goals, and objectives so we know what is most important to you. In addition, we will make sure you understand exactly what would happen under your current plan (whether or not you already have wills and trusts) and whether your current plan meets your objectives. We will also discuss public benefits and community resources available for the person with a disability. Finally, we discuss fee ranges and present planning options with you so you can make a good decision for your family. You will know exactly what your planning fee will be before you decide to retain us as your attorneys.

Once you have decided what steps to take next, we will work with you to design your plan. There may be one or more meetings involved in the design phase of your planning. Once your plan is designed and drafted, we schedule time to review everything to make sure it is exactly how you want it to be. At the signing meeting, we will go over everything with you—including your trust funding plan. Unlike some planners, we have a comprehensive process for making sure all of your accounts are titled properly in your trusts. You will receive straightforward instructions about what to do next, and we will be available to answer questions. We provide you with a CD containing scanned copies of all your documents.

Schedule an appointment or telephone call to discuss special needs planning here.