Back to the Basics—Providing for Children with Disabilities in your Will

This edition of the Koldin Law Center E-Newsletter continues a series going “Back to the Basics” to meet your estate planning objectives.

As Elderlaw attorneys, we use our initial consultation to learn what objectives our clients desire to accomplish. In this newsletter we discuss: Providing for children with disabilities in your Will.

All prior newsletters are saved on our website. You can read them by clicking here.

Your Will, also referred to as a Last Will and Testament, is a legal document that expresses your wishes about how you would like your life savings distributed after you die.

Supplemental Needs Trust

For a child (or grandchild) who is expected to require government benefits such as Medicaid, his/her share can be left in a Supplemental Needs Trust.

Unlike a Trust for minors, such as to age 25, a Supplemental Needs Trust typically would remain in effect for your child’s lifetime.

If the Supplemental Needs Trust complies with the strict legal requirements, assets from the Trust can be used to provide for the well-being of your child with disabilities without disqualifying him/her from receiving government benefits. You would then name a remainder beneficiary to receive any balance left in this Trust after the death of your child.

You may also be able to designate the Supplemental Needs Trust created by your Will as a beneficiary of your life insurance and retirement accounts.

However, it is generally better practice to use a “Living Trust” that is already in existence to receive funds from life insurance and retirement accounts, which will be discussed in future newsletters.

For more information about Supplemental Needs Trusts, please visit our website by clicking here.

You may also want to designate a Guardian in your Will to have custody of your child with disabilities.

The next newsletter in this series reviews considerations for Wills for second marriages.

How We Can Help

The Koldin Law Center, P.C., located in East Syracuse, New York, has over 50 years of experience helping individuals and families navigate elder law, estate planning, and Medicaid planning.

Our practice is limited exclusively to Elder Law, including:

• Medicaid planning and applications
• Asset protection strategies
• Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Health Care Proxies
• Revocable and Irrevocable Trust planning

When we handle a Medicaid case, we do more than submit the application—we review strategies to protect assets both before and after Medicaid eligibility is established.

We offer no-fee initial consultations, and we welcome the participation of adult children, attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors.

There is something you can do.

We are here to help.

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Our Attorneys are available to speak to your organization

Our Attorneys speak to groups throughout New York State as a public service. If you would like to arrange for one of our Attorneys to speak to your group, please contact our office.

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We appreciate your referrals

We have been told by many clients who are in a crisis that they wish they had known about our firm much sooner. We are proud of the many families we have helped in times of crisis.

We are also proud of the many families we helped avoid financial crisis by doing estate planning in advance.

We all share the responsibility for making our family and friends aware of the planning options available to them.

Your referral to the Koldin Law Center could make a major difference in the lives of your family and friends if they are someday faced with a long term illness.

Remember that the Koldin Law Center offers many services for clients of all ages. Our services range from basic estate planning such as a simple will to complex estate planning including asset preservation planning.

THERE IS NO FEE FOR THE INITIAL CONSULTATION