Q. #6.  I have a child who is disabled. How can I best handle his needs, yet retain my assets to pass on to my other children?

A.  To provide an appropriate answer we need to ascertain the actual situation. Is your child now receiving certain government benefits or will he qualify for such benefits in the future? Where government benefits are provided, or available, to a disabled person then it becomes extremely important that the disabled person NOT have direct access to the income or assets from a typical estate plan. If such is the case, then he will lose his assistance.

If this child is the beneficiary of an existing typical estate plan, then with RARE exception the plan will need to be revised to insure that the estate plan does not disqualify the disabled child from otherwise available local, state or federal governmental assistance. If no estate plan is yet in place, then a properly designed plan should be established which provides for the disabled child. 

Again, great care must be taken in this regard or the disabled child could still be disqualified from receiving assistance.

Call us today for a free consultation to discuss with you how a properly established estate planning structure can be of benefit to you and your family.