10 Steps To Special Needs Planning For Families of Individuals With Disabilities©
by National Center on Life Planning

How to Find Peace of Mind

We are often asked, "What's so special about special needs planning for families of individuals with disabilities?" More and more people are becoming enlightened about the benefits of regular special needs planning, but only 5% of the thousands of families we have helped with special needs planning had a clue as to where to begin or what to do.
What the family does know is how much they worry about the future of their disabled child. They worry about what will happen to their loved one if and when the parents are not around to care for them. And what they discover is that the special needs planning process gives them peace of mind and something they can rely upon for the future.
The mission of National Center on Life Planning is to reach as many families and organizations as possible to share the important information about "10 Steps To Special Needs Planning For Families of Individuals With Disabilities©" through complimentary presentations and workshops. This information is critical knowledge for individuals, parents, organizations and businesses.

A: Yes, all professional fees that pertain to setting-up a Special Needs Trust and/or preservation of assets in a Special Needs Trust are tax deductible. This includes, but is not limited to the NCLP initial consultation, private fee-based planning and group planning workshops.

This deduction is made on the Form IRS 1040 Schedule A - Itemized Deductions. They are classified as miscellaneous itemized deductions and are included with other investment expenses, subject to 2% of your adjusted gross income. It is highly recommended that in addition to this provided information, that you check with your tax advisor to confirm that the expenses being itemized are indeed tax deductible.

Course tuition, consulting, case assistance, and products are deductible business expenses to the professional advisor.

Funding a Special Needs Trust

Many different types of resources can be used to fund a Special Needs Trust. They may include your family’s savings, investments in stocks and mutual funds, Life Insurance, Certificates of Deposit (CDs), military benefits, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), real property and standard government benefits. Parents and other family members and even friends can name the trust as a beneficiary in their wills. Your life insurance policy can also name the trust as a beneficiary. Anyone can contribute to the trust at any time. If the trust beneficiary (the special needs individual) inherits money or other property, that too can be placed in the trust as well.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves

A:  No. Since the person with special needs cannot have more than $2,000 of assets in their name to qualify for certain government benefits, the Special Needs Trust is essential to hold and protect assets.

A:  The first, Lifestyle, addresses the day-to-day assistance, medical, social, employment and other activity care requirements. Next, is Legal Planning that includes Wills, Special Needs Trusts, Guardianship, and Trustees. The third issue, Financial Needs involves the calculating of the person’s monthly budgetary needs and how much is required for the Trust to provide lifetime income for care. Identifying assets to fund the trust and projecting the effects of inflation are also a part of this planning. The final item, Government Benefits, identifies the various Social Security and medical benefits including: SSI, SSA, SSDI, Medicare, Medicaid, and military pensions.

A:  This document enables families and friends to leave assets to provide for the person with a disability. When properly drafted, the assets funding this trust are not considered to belong to the person with special needs. The funds in the trust are intended to be used to supplement what government benefits do not provide. The Special Needs Trust provides protection and management of the assets and avoids termination or reimbursement of government benefits during the person's lifetime

A:  Yesterday! Regardless of whether the person with special needs is four months old or 40 years old, planning should be done based on their needs today

A:  For the first time, persons with a disability are enjoying a typical life expectancy. Therefore, many will survive their parents and siblings. For this reason, it is important that families prepare a plan for the care and supervision of their loved one after they are gone, or are no longer able to care for them. Planning is not an option, it is a necessity. How else will future care providers know what your wishes are, and what they are expected to do?