You have completed and executed your plan for your special needs child. Everyone you’ve selected to serve—your guardian, your trustee, your executor, and possibly a trust protector as well—has signed the paperwork. All set?
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More than six million people whose disabilities arose later in life will be able to open ABLE savings accounts if a bill just reintroduced in Congress, the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, becomes law. In 2014, Congress passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which created a new form of tax-free savings account for people with disabilities and their families to set money aside for disability-related expenses.
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President Biden has signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. Among its benefits are $1,400 checks that are already landing in the bank accounts or mailboxes of most Americans to help them weather the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Recipients with disabilities who rely on government benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid may want to consider putting some or all of the money into an ABLE account.
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You may be thinking about setting up a trust to protect your assets, save on estate taxes, or perhaps set aside money for a loved one with special needs. Before you commit to a plan, make sure you understand the differences between the two basic types of trusts: the revocable (also called “living”) trust and the irrevocable trust. These differ in how they are structured and taxed, and each offers advantages and disadvantages depending on their purpose.
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Retirement plans often make up a significant portion of the assets of parents of children with special needs, or of individuals who have become disabled as adults. In such cases, the question arises as to whether the retirement plan can be put into a special needs trust.
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How can you ensure that your special needs child will remain well cared for and secure once others assume the role of guardian or caregiver? While creating a financial plan and establishing a specialized trust are central to preparing for your child's future, we also advise families to write down their intentions and expectations in a document known as a "Letter of Intent."
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Travel is supposed to let you get away from it all. But it doesn’t always feel that way for families traveling with children with special needs. Despite passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act more than 30 years ago, hotels, transportation modes, and destinations can still pose challenges.
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Every adult is assumed to be capable of making his or her own decisions unless a court determines otherwise. If an adult becomes incapable of making responsible decisions, the court will appoint a substitute decision maker, usually called a "guardian," but called a "conservator" or another term in some states.
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Paying for day care is one of the biggest expenses faced by working adults with young children, a child with a disability or a dependent parent, but there is a tax credit available to help working caregivers defray the costs of day care.
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The nation’s largest passenger rail network has reached an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring its services into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was enacted in 1990.
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One area of special needs planning that can really stress out trustees of special needs trusts is how to get beneficiaries what they need without violating the strict rules for public benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The good news is that ABLE accounts are turning out to be a game-changer when it comes to paying for the beneficiary’s living expenses.
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If you are considering taking on the responsibility of serving as the trustee of a special needs trust, you will probably have questions about the trustee's role. Trustees of special needs trusts have many important responsibilities, but these five likely rank at the top of any trustee's list.
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Understanding what benefits might be available to your child or loved one with special needs can be very overwhelming. Different benefits apply in different circumstances, and sometimes different benefit programs can work together to help meet the needs of an individual. Childhood disabled beneficiary benefits (CDBs) are a case in point.
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One of the most important decisions a special needs trust's donor (the person who supplies the funds for the trust) makes is the choice of a trustee for the trust. A trustee typically manages the day-to-day operations of the trust, often making distributions to the trust's beneficiary, investing the trust's assets, and paying the trust's bills. But how can the donor make sure that the trustee will properly manage the trust when the donor is no longer around to keep an eye on the trustee, especially if the trust's beneficiary is not capable of supervising his own trustee?
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Getting benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is a great relief to a person under age 65 who is unable to earn a living because of a disability. Its monthly payments guarantee some degree of financial security for the individuals that qualify.
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President-elect Joe Biden has made more promises to the disability community than perhaps any incoming president in U.S. history, raising the hopes of advocates. The former vice president’s proposals range from strengthening enforcement against disability discrimination to nearly doubling the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly benefit.
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations covering tax-free savings accounts that allow people with disabilities and their families to save and pay for qualified expenses without jeopardizing eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other government benefits.
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The end of the year is approaching, and the holidays will soon be in full swing, a time when many people are getting ready to make gifts to their family members. Not only is this a great way to show love and support to relatives, but it makes tax planning sense as well!
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A nonpartisan federal agency has called on the government to end a program that explicitly permits employers to pay hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities less than $1 an hour, calling the practice “rife with abuse and difficult to administer.”
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Special Needs Trusts are the single most important vehicles in special needs planning. They not only set aside funds to pay for the care of the individual with special needs while maintaining eligibility for programs like Medicaid, but they provide ways to preserve these funds through the person’s lifetime. What happens, though, when the primary beneficiary of a special needs trust (SNT) dies and there are assets left in the trust? How are taxes calculated and paid? And who pays them?
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