Families caring for a loved one with special needs experience challenges as varied as the types of special needs themselves. Nonetheless, each faces a shared reality: the savings or life insurance proceeds you intend to provide for your child with special needs after your death or disability can cause your child to lose their disability payments, health care, and support services.
As a Personal Family Lawyer® (PFL) with a Special Needs Planning focus, we can help prevent this, ensuring that your loved one can keep their public benefits while your assets supplement and improve their care for years to come.
But it takes more than basic estate planning to create a plan for an individual with special needs.
Keeps reading to learn why.
How a Personal Family Lawyer® With a Special Needs Focus Makes The Difference
As your Personal Family Lawyer® (PFL) with a Special Needs Planning focus, I’m an estate planning attorney who has committed to providing premium Special Needs Planning in my community and have undergone rigorous training and testing to earn the designation.
My goal as a PFL with a Special Needs Planning focus is to use my comprehensive legal training to help maximize your loved one’s public benefits, preserve family resources, and enable all family members to live their best lives.
Special Needs Planning requires substantial knowledge beyond what an ordinary estate planning attorney provides.
Each public benefits program such as Social Security, Medicaid, and Housing Assistance has specific eligibility requirements and asset limits that are difficult to understand without the proper training. A seemingly helpful change in the life of your loved one with special needs, such as them getting a job at a local grocery store or getting financial help from their grandparents, can result in the loss of their eligibility to receive much-needed benefits for months or even years.
Thankfully, there are several estate planning tools that help individuals with special needs and their families live meaningful and comfortable lives without needing to sacrifice their needs or their family’s best intentions. As a PFL with a Special Needs Planning focus, we help you understand these options and evaluate all of the legal tools available to find the best methods for protecting your assets while ensuring your loved one with special needs continues to receive excellent care.
In the end, we create a plan that not only meets your family’s unique needs and circumstances but also helps your loved one foster their independence while always having the best possible support so they can live their life to the fullest.
Supporting Your Family Every Step of The Way
Imagining a future where you aren’t there to care for your child with special needs can be difficult. As your Personal Family Lawyer® with a Special Needs Planning focus, we gently guide families in preparing for the realities of death and disability with clear eyes and an open heart.
We understand that your loved one is everything to you and making sure they have the care and support they need throughout their life is of the utmost importance.
To make the planning process as easy as possible, we help you set up your core estate planning foundations and then incorporate the Special Needs Planning tools that best serve your loved one and their future caregivers.
In addition, we work with you and your family to make sure that everyone involved in your loved one’s care knows their role and knows they can count on my office for support in understanding how best to serve as your loved one’s Guardian, Trustee, or Power of Attorney.
And finally, we review your plan at least every three years to keep it up to date with life’s changes so it will always work for you and your family.
We embrace the responsibility of empowering individuals with special needs to live their best lives, and am honored to join in solidarity with the special needs community to serve that goal.
Contact Entrusted Legacy Law at 412-347-1731 or click here to schedule a complimentary 15-Minute call.
This article is a service of Sharek Law Office, LLC. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That's why we offer a Life and Legacy Planning Session, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Life and Legacy Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge. Please note this is educational content only and is not intended to act as legal advice.