As a mother of a special needs child, there is nothing more frightening for me than my son being in this world without me. The thought of this keeps me up at night. In my opinion, no one knows him as well as I do and no one can care for him like I can. Nevertheless, there will most likely be a time when he is on this earth without me. While planning for the future cannot give you complete peace of mind, a proper plan can be put in place. There are fabulous tools available, to ensure that your child will be properly cared for after you are gone. Not planning will put the child that you want to protect more than anything in the world in jeopardy and in a vulnerable position.

Here are ten reasons why it is necessary to plan for the future of your child with special needs:

1. You are able to do the planning now. Do not wait until it is too late to do the planning. If you are reading this article you are well enough to do the planning for your child. Mahatma Gandhi said "Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." We cannot be sure what tomorrow will bring. The time to plan is now!

2. Planning can change as your child ages. Many parents do not want to plan for the future because they want to wait and see exactly what their child's functioning level will be. Also, parents often want to wait until siblings are old enough to take the reins. A plan that you put in place now can be altered at a later date if circumstances change. However, missing the opportunity to plan because you waited will hurt your child much more than a potential change in functioning level. Better to be safe than sorry!

3. You are able to make sure future caregivers know your wishes. Write down what it means to care for your child. What are his likes or dislikes? Where would you like him to live?  Preparing a "Letter of Intent" (click here for guidelines) will give the people who will be caring for your child the intimate details of what it means to care for him/her.

4. You can continue making decisions for your child. When your child reaches the age of majority they are emancipated regardless of their functioning level. In order to continue making decisions for your child after he or she reaches the age of majority, you will need to become your child's guardian. You will have to go to court to become your child's legal guardian after emancipation age. This is not something that happens automatically!

5. You can have a say in who will become your child's future caregivers. You want to be able to determine who will care for your child when you are no longer here. If you do not make this determination, or be part of the process for determining your child's future caregivers, or successor guardian(s), this will be done for you and without your input after your demise.

6. Your child may lose valuable public benefits. If your child has a developmental disability, many of the services he or she will receive, once aged out of the school system, will be paid for by "means tested" public benefits. Thus, your child must have assets and income at or below the poverty level to be eligible. If your child inherits directly, even a small amount of money or real or personal property, then he or she would probably be knocked off of those valuable benefits. Therefore, the use of an estate planning tool like a "Supplemental Needs Trust" is necessary to protect the priceless benefits...Click here to read more.

 

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