Estate Planning Attorneys Providing Comprehensive, Compassionate Guidance In Special Needs Planning
Special needs law encompasses a range of services geared towards assisting individuals with disabilities, health care challenges or concerns with respect to the management of their daily lives or finances. The legal solution to these challenges often revolves around qualifying the individual for SSI, SSDI or Medicaid benefits while utilizing a special needs trust to protect funds that can supplement public benefits. Special needs law also encompasses other types of services, such as assisting with ABLE accounts, executing proper advance directives and guardianships.
If you have a family member or loved one with special needs, you likely want to ensure that inheritances left to them will be protected while also maintaining their eligibility for public benefits. This overlap between estate planning and special needs law is a critical component to ensuring that the individual with special needs is protected and the estate plan established for their benefit is carried out most effectively without harming the beneficiary. This kind of high-stakes and complex planning is best completed with the help of an experienced and knowledgeable special needs lawyer.
In Coral Springs and throughout South Florida, you can find the help you need by contacting Feldman & Feldman, Counsellors at Law, P.A.. Our estate planning attorneys have decades of experience and often work as a team, meaning that clients receive the benefit of their collective wisdom and skill.
Table Of Contents
Special Needs Trusts Are A Cornerstone Of Special Needs Planning
ABLE Accounts Provide Another Financial Planning Solution
Helping Clients Seek Guardianship Of Adult Family Members With Special Needs
Talk To Experienced Attorneys Who Listen And Care
Special Needs Trusts Are A Cornerstone Of Special Needs Planning
Special needs trusts (sometimes called “supplemental needs trusts” or SNTs) are a type of trust that allows the beneficiary to continue receiving public benefits, such as SSI or Medicaid, while also benefiting from the funds held by the trust. Because these trusts are so customizable and give trust creators significant control over how and when assets are distributed, they are an ideal choice for many families. Whether you have a child who will need daily lifelong care or have a family member with autism who could live relatively independently with some assistance, a special needs trust may be the answer you’re looking for.
SNTs may be established in a number of ways, and that affects how the funds may be used and what happens to the funds upon the beneficiary’s death (or if they are no longer in need of public benefits). Each of these trusts have appropriate uses, and every beneficiary’s situation is unique, which is one reason why it is so important to work with an experienced special needs attorney. You can learn more about these powerful legal instruments by visiting our special needs trust page.
ABLE Accounts Provide Another Financial Planning Solution
ABLE Accounts are a tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals who have a significant disability that began before the age of 26. ABLE accounts allow eligible individuals to build savings and spend those funds on a wide range of expenses while maintaining their eligibility for public benefits. A tremendous benefit of ABLE accounts, compared to special needs trusts, is that individuals with disabilities may have direct access to the account, thus allowing them to have greater control over the funds available for their benefit. Funds in an ABLE account are also treated more favorably upon the death of the beneficiary, allowing some final expenses to be paid immediately and incur a reduced Medicaid lien against the remaining funds.
Helping Clients Seek Guardianship Of Adult Family Members With Special Needs
Some adults are unable to be completely autonomous and to tend to all of their own needs. This could be because they’ve always had special needs and have reached adulthood or because they have lost capacity as an adult. Whatever the reason, it is often necessary for loved ones of the special-needs adult to seek guardianship. Depending on the circumstances, this can be a complex and emotionally fraught court proceeding. Thankfully, our attorneys are here to provide guidance and legal assistance every step of the way.
Talk To Experienced Attorneys Who Listen And Care
With an office in Coral Springs, our special needs planning attorneys at Feldman & Feldman serve clients throughout South Florida, just as we have for more than three decades. To discuss your legal needs and learn how we can help, contact us online or call 954-227-7320.