Fouts Law Group, LLC provides assistance with special needs planning. We represent caregivers and guardians of individuals with serious disabilities and offer assistance in how to make sure the person you are caring for always has an appropriate home and necessary aid. We also provide assistance to families and friends who wish to give a financial gift to a loved one with special needs.
When it comes to providing care or financial support to someone who is disabled, the law actually creates some serious potential problems which can cause tremendous hardship. You do not want your good intentions to result in a loss of important benefits or to create other serious problems for someone who is disabled. Let Fouts Law Group, LLC help make sure that does not happen. Call our Atlanta special needs planning lawyers today to get personalized advice and answers to questions including:
- Why is special needs planning important?
- What is involved in special needs planning?
- How Can a special needs planning lawyer help?
Why is Special Needs Planning Important?
Special needs planning is important for different reasons, depending upon the role that you play in the life of a person with a disability. For those who just want to give a financial gift to a friend or relative with a disability, it may not seem necessary to create a special needs plan. The reality, however, is that your gift could actually cause the loss of essential government benefits if you don’t.
Many people with special needs receive Supplemental Security Income and receive Medicaid coverage to pay for their medical care costs. Both Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid have resource limits, which means having too many assets can be disqualifying.
If you give a financial gift, or a gift considered substantially similar to a financial gift (like paying rent for someone with special needs), you could be responsible for benefits ending. Your gift, which was intended to improve quality of life, could be wasted on paying for basic costs of living and essential medical care, and could make life worse for the person who you were trying to help.
With special needs planning, you can make certain that a gift is actually used to provide for things that government benefits don’t cover. You can also ensure that the money or property you give to a person with special needs is managed appropriately, which is vital if the recipient is too affected by disability to manage the money, investments, or property you are gifting.
While special needs planning is important for those giving financial gifts, it is essential for caregivers and guardians. Those who provide daily care need to make sure someone can step in and fill their role if they become unable to continue caring for the person with special needs. You must ensure that the person you are caring for who is disabled has a caregiver, a guardian, and a safe place to live when you can no longer provide a home or manage their affairs for them.
What is Involved in Special Needs Planning?
The most basic special needs planning process involves making certain a financial gift is used appropriately and doesn’t cause a loss of access to government benefits. You can achieve this goal by getting legal help to create a special needs trust.
A special needs trust is a specific type of trust which follows detailed legal requirements and which allows for trust assets to be used to benefit someone who is disabled, without causing benefits loss. You can name a trustee who manages the assets in the trust, and who uses them to meet the supplemental needs of the person with disabilities who you wished to make a gift to.
For those who must go beyond giving a financial gift and who must name a new caretaker or guardian, there are additional steps to the special needs planning process that an experienced attorney can help you with. Your plan must be personalized to the disabled person in your life, so get legal help as soon as possible.
How Can a Special Needs Planning Lawyer Help?
Fouts Law Group, LLC can provide assistance with both simple and complex special needs planning. Our legal team understands what is involved in providing financially or physically for a person with disabilities, and we will help you to use legal tools designed to allow you to protect a disabled loved one. Give us a call at (678) 242-8344 or contact us online to speak with an Atlanta special needs planning lawyer to find out more about how we can assist you.
