Table of Contents

To help illustrate what topics are discussed and what sort of questions we cover in our book, we've included the Table of Contents. Please look it over to see if this book can help you plan for the future.
Introduction	1
Chapter 1
The Life Plan	7
The Life Planning Process	8
Residential Care Alternatives	16
Family-Type Living Arrangements	18
Adult Foster Care	19
The Group Home	20
Institutional Care	24
Independent Supported Living	24
Deciding Among the Alternatives	25
Educational Opportunities	29
Infancy Through Secondary School	29
Post-Secondary Education	34
Adult Service Agencies	37
Special Educational Programs for People with Visual or Hearing Impairments	38
Employment Options	39
Sheltered Workshops	39
Community-Based Employment	41
Finding a Job for Your Son or Daughter	42
Social/Recreational Activities	44
Mental Health Resources	47
Conclusion	48
Chapter 2
The Letter of Intent	51
Sample Letters	67
Sample Letter for Physical Disability	67
Sample Letter for Intellectual Disability	93
Sample Letter for Mental Illness	111
Conclusion	127
Chapter 3
Advocacy and Guardianship	127
The Advocacy Function	128
Selecting an Advocate	131
Guardianship	133
Guardian of the Person	134
Guardian of the Estate	135
Plenary Guardian	137
Limited Guardian	137
Private Guardianship Agencies	141
Public Guardians	142
Alternatives to Guardianship	142
Trusts	142
Representative Payee	143
Advocacy	144
Power of Attorney	145
Making the Choice: The Pros and Cons of Guardianship	146
Special Considerations for People with Mental Illness	151
Establishing Guardianship	159
Starting a Guardianship Proceeding	159
Notice to the Person with a Disability	160
Evidence of Incapacity	160
Appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem	162
Hearing and Appointment	163
Modification or Discharge of Guardianship	164
Rights of the Person with a Disability	164
Checklist of Procedures for Your Lawyer	165
Conclusion	166
Chapter 4
Planning Your Child’s Financial Future:The Role of Government Benefits	167
Government Benefit Programs for People with Disabilities	168
Establishing Disability	170
Social Security Disability Insurance	178
Special SSDI Employment Supports	181
Impairment Related Work Expenses	182
Subsidy and Special Work Conditions	186
Unsuccessful Work Attempt	188
Trial Work Period	188
Extended Period of Eligibility	190
Continued Payment Under a Vocational Rehabilitation Program	190
Supplemental Security Income	191
The SSI Income Limitation	192
SSI Limitation Relating to Resources	193
Deeming of Income and Resources	194
Calculating Your Child’s SSI Benefit	195
Special SSI Employment Supports	200
Student Earned Income Exclusion	203
Plan for Achieving Self-Support	206
Blind Work Expenses	209
Medicare	211
Medicaid	217
Ticket to Work Program	221
Other Government Benefit Programs	221
Applying for and Maintaining Benefits	222
Conclusion	226
Chapter 5
Calculating Your Child’s Financial Needs	227
Financial Needs Analysis	229
Monthly Expense Calculation	234
Life Expectancy Calculation	238
Calculation of Assets Required to Fund Calculated Expenses	240
Chapter 6
The Basic Estate Plan: The Will and the Special Needs Trust	259
The Role of a Will in Your Estate Plan	259
Guidelines for Creating a Will	264
Dying Intestate	265
Trust for Beneficiaries with Disabilities	266
Spendthrift Clause	276
Trust Terminations	277
Trust Amendment	278
No Commingling of Assets	279
Trust Protector	280
Trust Remaindermen	280
Trust Administration	281
Selecting the Trustee	284
The Corporate Trustee	284
The Individual Trustee	286
Co-trustees	287
Making the Choice: Selecting the Trustee	288
The Pooled-Income Trust	290
Trusts for Beneficiaries without Disabilities	291
Disinheritance-A Poor Alternative	293
Some Sample Estate Plans	293
Chapter 7
Government Benefits and the Resource Limitation: Fixing the Problem When a Child Has Excess Assets	297
SSI and Medicaid-The Basics	297
The Problem of Improperly Made Gifts	300
Fixing the Problem-Spending Down Excess Resources	304
Fixing the Problem-Placing Excess Resources in Trust	307
Transferring Your Child’s Property into Your Name	313
Making Lifetime Gifts to a Child with a Disability -The Proper Approach	315
Correcting the Support Trust	316
Special Issues Relating to Divorce	317
Conclusion-Tying it All Together	319
Chapter 8
Using Living Trusts to Avoid Probate	323
The Probate System	324
Avoiding Probate with a Living Trust	325
Living Trust Versus Probate-Factors to be Considered	327
Sample Estate Plans Using Living Trusts	330
Other Probate Avoidance Techniques	333
Conclusion	339
Chapter 9
Reducing the Estate Tax Owing at Your Death	341
Using the Credit-Shelter Trust to Reduce Estate Tax	346
Reducing Estate Tax with the Irrevocable Insurance Trust	356
Reducing Estate Tax Through Gifting Programs	363
The Gift Tax and the Annual Exclusion Gift	363
Gifts Exceeding the Annual Exclusion	365
Generation-Skipping Transfers	367
Conclusion	370
Chapter 10
The Health Care Declaration and the Durable Power of Attorney	373
The Power of Attorney for Health Care	378
The Health Care Declaration	385
The Power of Attorney for Property	387
Conclusion	396
Chapter 11
Protecting Your Property From Nursing Home Expenses	399
Using Medicaid to Pay Nursing Home Expenses	401
Medicaid Eligibility-The Basics	402
Special Rules for Married Couples-Income Protection	405
Special Rules For Married Couples-Asset Protection	407
Asset Transfers	412
Exempt Transfers	415
The Self-Settled Trust	419
Estate Recoveries	422
Tying it all Together-Planning Strategies for the Unmarried Individual	422
Tying it all Together-Planning Strategies for the Married Individual	425
Long Term Care Insurance	428
Conclusion	431
Chapter 12
Developing Your Financial Plan	433
Using Insurance to Provide Security	437
Term Insurance	437
Universal and Whole Life Insurance	438
Joint Policies	439
Beneficiary Designation	440
Medical Insurance	440
Investments	442
Stock Investments	443
Mutual Funds	443
Bonds	445
Money Market Funds	446
Certificates of Deposit	447
Annuities	447
Retirement Plans	448
Developing an Investment Strategy	449
Chapter 13
Personal Injury Awards	455
Calculating the Personal Injury Award	456
Settlement Planning and Government Benefits-SSI and Medicaid	463
Settlement Planning and Government Benefits-SSDI and Medicare	468
Worker’s Compensation	469
Personal Injury	471
Structured Settlements	473
Structuring the Settlement	474
Government Benefits and Structured Settlements	485
Conclusion	487
Chapter 14
Income Tax	489
Certain Income Items	491
Exemptions for Dependents	492
Medical Expense Deduction	495
Impairment-Related Work Expenses	514
Child and Dependent Care Credit	515
Credit for the Elderly and Disabled	521
Earned Income Tax Credit	523
Tax Preparers	527
Chapter 15
The Final Steps:	531
Appendix 1
Preparation For Attorney Meeting	535
Appendix 2
Estate Plan Organizer	555
Appendix 3
Supplemental Financial Needs Analysis for Financial Professionals	577
Appendix 4	611
Glossary
Index	635

Excerpt

The single most important issue in the minds of parents who have a child with a disability, regardless of the age of the child, is what will happen to the child after the parents are gone. The parents know what they do for their child, and they need to be sure the child will be cared for in the future. Primary concerns include:

The book is a rewrite of a book that we first wrote more than ten years ago. In reality, however, it is a new book. Laws and practices relating to people with disabilities have changed substantially over the last ten years, and our experience in advising families has grown as well. This book answers every question that we have been asked over our collective thirty years of experience in advising families that have a child with a disability.

Planning to secure your child's future after your death is a daunting task, but it is achievable. We have helped many families over the years. Our book is designed to take you through the planning process in a simple, easy to understand, step-by-step way. Critical issues discussed include:

Two real life situations demonstrate the unfortunate results of inadequate planning.

The first involved a client who came to us in near-panic to get her estate plan prepared. Apparently the woman's neighbor had died, leaving two children, a nine-year-old son with autism and a twenty-year-old college student who was away at school. The neighbor had done no estate planning, all her relatives lived out of town, and the younger child was left alone, with no where to go and no one to take care of him. All the details future caregivers needed to know-the child's medical history, his favorite foods, favorite activities-died with the parent. No financial planning had been done, and no one had any idea who was to look out for the child or provide for the child's future. Eventually the child was placed in an institution, but there had been no investigation of alternatives, no search for a proper placement.

The second situation involved one of our very first clients, a man whose mother had died without a will, owning more than $200,000 in property. Our client's sister, a forty-five-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, was residing in a state-funded residential facility. Under the probate laws in the state where the man's mother resided, his sister was entitled to one-half of her mother's estate. The state's Medicaid authorities seized the property for past cost-of-care liabilities. This left the woman with nothing.

There is much that both of these families could have done if only they had engaged in timely estate planning. With a proper estate plan, parents can avoid a drastic interruption in care and do everything that is possible to ensure that their child will have a comfortable and fulfilling life.

Estate planning for families with a member who has a disability is different from other types of estate planning, because there is so much more that has to be done. Our goal is to convince you that estate planning is essential for every family and not an activity for only the wealthy. Parents must plan their estates, regardless of size, to secure the continued care and well-being of their child. Future caregivers must be selected, living arrangements investigated, and alternatives discussed. Families with limited financial resources must learn to maximize government benefits so that their child's financial needs will be satisfied.

Although there are many alternatives that all parents with children who have disabilities should consider, there is no single magic formula for creating the appropriate estate plan. Every estate plan should be custom-fit to the family's circumstances and the needs of its members. The size of a family's estate affects the need for estate-tax planning and the importance of government benefits. The nature and degree of your child's disability will help determine the type of living arrangement that will be appropriate. The ages of your children-both those with disabilities and those without-affect your need for insurance. The size of your family might influence the distribution of property. The age and maturity of children without disabilities will determine whether you will need trusts for them, as well as for the child with a disability. In other words, estate planning is a process of weighing numerous alternatives and making decisions that you hope will improve and secure your child's life now and in the future.

A final warning. Our book is not intended to be a substitute for the services of attorneys and other advisors. Rather, it is intended to be a guide for parents in dealing with their advisors through the comprehensive estate-planning process, and an aid to help professionals understand all the planning issues faced by families that have a child with a disability.

Laws and requirements about estate-planning methods are changing constantly. Moreover, laws vary from state to state. It is therefore necessary to check all your plans closely with a knowledgeable attorney in your state before they become final. Once a plan is prepared, it should be periodically evaluated and revised to guarantee the maximum possible care for your child in light of changes in his or her life and changes in your financial situation.

Planning For The Future is an extremely comprehensive and vital new resource for parents who are concerned about their child's future well-being.