When a loved one has a physical, emotional or mental disability, it’s important to plan for the future. Doing so will bring you peace of mind. Planning ahead, however, involves many challenges. For instance:
- Who will care for your loved one with special needs when you are no longer able to?
- How do you provide for someone with special needs without jeopardizing his or her government benefits?
- Is it possible to provide for a special needs child without over-burdening his or her siblings?
- How do you ensure funds left for your loved one with special needs will be well-managed?
- How do you decide how to allocate your estate among your special-needs child and your other children?
Fred Eisman works with parents, grandparents and siblings of individuals with special needs to provide for their care and care management when those responsible for them are no longer able to do so. Services provided include:
- Guardianship Petitions. Petitioning courts seeking the appointment of a guardian for a loved one incapable of handling his or her personal or financial affairs;
- Establishing Special Needs Trusts, which manage funds for disabled individuals who cannot do so themselves and preserve the beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), public housing, or any other program;
- Assisting with the establishment of an account with a Pooled Special Needs Trust, which is a trust established by a not-for-profit organization that most often relies upon social workers, money managers and special needs attorneys to administer the trust; and
- Finding care providers and housing as necessary.