SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING

From financial considerations to legal matters and beyond, there are numerous factors to take into account to ensure your loved one receives the care and support they need as they transition into adulthood.

For families of individuals with special needs, planning for their future and ensuring their well-being is of utmost importance. When considering guardianship for a loved one with special needs, it becomes crucial to find the delicate balance between safeguarding their privacy and independence while also ensuring their protection and care.

As the parent of a child with special needs, your role as a parent becomes different when your child becomes a legal adult. Although your child may have some or all the same needs for assistance from you, your legal relationship with your child changes when your child turns age 18.

Special Needs Planning is a Lifelong Event: Working to get your child assessed to qualify for support programs, fighting to get benefits and finding therapists became a full-time job, and one that led to enormous costs, even with the family’s having good health insurance.

If your child or grandchild has special needs, one of your greatest concerns is ensuring that the child receives essential care and support throughout their life. While your inclination may be to give the child money or other assets through an inheritance, doing so may deprive the child of the ability to receive government assistance. Fortunately, a Special Needs Trust (SNT) can provide lifelong financial benefits for the child without affecting eligibility for government programs.

Caring for an adult child with a disability in Illinois is often challenging in the best of circumstances. Many parents worry about what might happen to their child if the parents die or are otherwise unavailable to provide care. We will discuss some Special Needs Planning suggestions to benefit both you and your child.

To preserve a person’s right to receive public benefits, family members may create a special needs trust. Setting up this type of trust can be an important part of the estate planning process.

Once the trust documents have been signed, the trust has been initially funded, and the trust legally exists, what’s next in the lifespan of a special needs trust?

Guardianships protect people with special needs by allowing their guardians to make financial, legal, and logistical decisions for them. Illinois law permits several different types of adult guardianships.