Guardianship, Special Needs Trust and Wills

Don't wait until your child turns 18 to consider Special Needs Planning such as Guardianship, Special Needs Trusts, and Wills. Turning 18 for parents with children with special needs is overwhelming. Let us make it easy for you. Guardianship so you can continue acting as a parent to help care for your child with education, financial, medical, and legal decision-making. Some schools are not permitting parents to attend their child's IEP meeting without it. Equally important is special needs trust to ensure your child can receive all the benefits that they deserve. Our team makes the process easy, and inexpensive. Call us today at 732-637-5248.
Guardianship: the Basics

Your child is considered an adult in the eyes of the law once he or she turns 18, even if a developmental disability, diminished capacity, or mental illness prohibits her or him from making decisions about finances, health care, education, and other important matters.

A guardian is legally defined as “a person or agency appointed by a court to act on behalf of an individual.” Guardianship, or being named as someone’s guardian, frequently crops up in terms of caring for elderly parents and other loved ones who need a responsible party to make decisions about their health, housing, finances, welfare, and safety. Parents of adult children with disabilities also can face this issue. By law, a guardian is required to involve the person in their care to the extent that his or her abilities permit.

A guardian can be a relative, another interested and responsible person your family nominates. Guardianship is not an all-encompassing responsibility. There are two types of guardianship: guardianship of a person and guardianship of property. The Bureau of Guardianship Services assists families only with guardianship of a person. If your adult son or daughter has assets in his or her name, you would need to consult with a lawyer.
In addition, the guardianship of a person has two distinctions:

  • General guardianship – Sometimes referred to as “plenary guardianship,” this is appropriate for people who have been found incapable of expressing or making any decisions on their behalf.
  • Limited guardianship – This is appropriate for people who are capable of expressing or making some decisions. The court specifies limited guardianship in one or more of six areas of decisions: medical, residential, educational, legal, vocational, and financial. You or another family member can petition to be a limited guardian over day-to-day health and financial issues, leaving an adult child with mild disabilities free to vote, marry, make a will, and perform other adult responsibilities.
Susan Clark Law Group Will Provide you with a Simple Intake Form to fill out to start to process of guardianship. Email us today to start the process. Let us make this process easy for your and your family.
Special Needs Trust
One way to provide for your child years from now is through a Special Needs Trust (SNT). You can establish and fund an SNT before your child turns 65 and have peace of mind knowing that the assets in the trust won’t disqualify your child from receiving Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and other government benefits.

SNT is a type of trust that preserves a person’s eligibility for benefits programs for which they could be disqualified for having a certain income or amount of assets. For instance, SSI provides cash to aged, blind, and disabled people who have little or no income so they can pay for basics such as food, shelter, and clothing. The program specifies that a recipient cannot have more than $2,000 in a bank account at any one time. A lump-sum inheritance could cancel this benefit to which your child would otherwise be entitled.

As long as an SNT is properly drafted and administered, federal and state law holds that any funds in this trust do not count toward a person’s eligibility for SSI, Medicaid, and other government programs.