Special Needs Planning

Special needs planning is the process of taking the necessary legal steps to provide for your child or a loved one with special needs.

Parents who have children with special needs face many challenges in determining how best to leave funds for a child with special needs while balancing the interests of other their children.  We have the knowledge and experience to guide you through the process of planning for a child or loved one with special needs.

Special Needs Trust

A special needs trust can allow the person with special needs – the trust’s beneficiary -- to remain eligible for needs-based public benefits while at the same time providing other assets to enhance the beneficiary’s quality of life.  Special needs trusts are intended to supplement, not replace, the kind of basic support that programs like Medicaid and SSI provide. Such trusts pay for anything the trust document provides for, including comforts and luxuries that public assistance funds do not cover -- hence the term “special needs.”  A special needs trust has been likened to a “parent's pocket” -- that is, it pays for the kinds of things that a parent would just reach into his or her pocket to cover. These trusts typically pay for amenities beyond the simple necessities of life, things like education, recreation, counseling, and medical attention.

ABLE Accounts

The ABLE Act is a provision of Section 529 of the IRS code, the section that previously established the framework for education savings plans to help families save for college. The ABLE Act allows money to be set aside for a person with special needs in a similar way. This money can grow tax-free over time and is used to pay for qualifying expenses toward the care and support of the special needs beneficiary. Qualifying expenses include housing, transportation, assistive technology, health care, and employment support. Any amount withdrawn for non-qualifying expenses incurs a 10 percent penalty payable to the IRS and is subject to taxation on any gains or investment returns.  One of the advantages to an ABLE account is that a person with disabilities who has more than $2,000 in assets would normally not qualify for federal government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), but under the ABLE Act, families may establish ABLE accounts (with contributions of no more than $15,000 per year and an account balance of no more than $100,000) that will not affect the child’s eligibility for SSI, Medicaid, and other public benefits. Such accounts are also easy and inexpensive to set up.  These accounts are administered by individual states and contributions can only be made in cash (not bonds, securities, real estate, or other assets), however, the cash contributions may be re-invested in a variety of mutual funds. 

Conservatorship

A conservatorship is a court-supervised proceeding where a judge limits the ability of the person conserved (“conservatee”) from making his or her own decisions about care and/or finances.  The court shifts responsibility for those types of decisions to another person by appointing a responsible third party to make those decisions that the conservatee otherwise would.  To protect the conservatee, a conservatorship is subject to periodic review by a court investigator and the judge.  There are several types of conservatorships and there may be alternatives that may be suitable to your circumstance.

Government Benefits

For parents of a child with special needs, the minor child may be eligible to receive services and benefits provided for by state or federal governments (or a combination of) regardless of the income earned or received by their parents.  Navigating the array of options and eligibility requirements can be challenging and overwhelming.  We are uniquely suited to assist our clients with securing and maintaining benefits for their special needs child from Regional Center, IHSS, and Medi-Cal.