Des Moines Special Needs Planning Lawyer | Protecting You & Your Child
Special needs planning is more than a legal process; it is an extremely personal facet of estate law that requires the assistance of a knowledgeable and compassionate attorney who truly wants the best for you and your family. When you sit down with us, we will answer each of your questions, inform you of all of your options, and work to ensure that all of your goals are reached. Your goals are our goals.
Why Support Trusts & Special Needs Trusts Are so Important
The two main ways in which you can protect your child with special needs are through support trusts (only in certain cases) and special needs trusts. To start, when you create a support trust on behalf of your child, you will appoint a trusted third party (known as a trustee) who, after your passing, will manage your finances on behalf of your child and use those finances exclusively to care for your child by providing him or her with food, water, clothing, a safe place to live, educational services, medical care, and all other essentials. However, and this is very important to note: if your child requires Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income, then you should not create a support trust, as these types of trusts will make any beneficiary of the trust ineligible to receive support from Medicaid or SSI.
If your child relies on Medicaid or SSI, you should instead create a special needs trust. The two types of special needs trusts are third-party special needs trusts and self-settled special needs trusts. The goal for either type of special needs trust is to ensure your child receives your assets while simultaneously continuing to receive Medicaid or SSI. A third-party special needs trust is generally created using a child’s parent’s assets and distributed through their will or living trust. This is most common. That being said, if your child has his or her own source of funds, such as through winning a lawsuit, you or another family member may create a self-settled special needs trust using those assets. A knowledgeable Des Moines estate planning lawyer here at Herting Law can help.
Contact a Des Moines Special Needs Planning Lawyer
The bottom line is that estate planning for children with special needs must be done meticulously so that they are fully protected when the time comes. Our firm is here to help in any way we can. Contact Herting Law, PLLC today so we can get started.
