Elder Law
Special Needs Estate Planning in Hackensack, NJ
Overview of Special Needs Estate Planning
Special Needs Estate Planning is designed to protect and provide for loved ones with disabilities when parents or caregivers are no longer able to advocate for them. It’s crucial for parents of children with special needs to carefully plan for their child’s legal, financial, and care requirements, both in the present and in the future. At the Law Firm of Benjamin Eckman in Hackensack, we understand the unique challenges faced by families and offer comprehensive guidance to ensure the right plan is in place.
Several trusts can help address these unique planning needs, with the most common being Support Trusts and Special Needs Trusts.
Support Trusts
Support Trusts provide funds for the child’s basic needs, such as food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. However, beneficiaries of Support Trusts are not eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid benefits. If your child needs SSI or Medicaid, a Support Trust may not be suitable.
Special Needs Trusts
For many parents in Hackensack, a Special Needs Trust (SNT) is often the most effective solution to support a child with a disability. Special Needs Trusts allow for managing resources while maintaining eligibility for public benefits. There are two main types:
- Third-Party Special Needs Trust: This type of trust is created using the assets of parents as part of their estate plan, with distributions made through a will or living trust.
- Self-Settled Special Needs Trust: Often established by a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian using the child’s own assets (e.g., settlement funds from a personal injury case), this trust helps ensure lifelong care. If any funds remain after the child’s passing, a state payback may be required, limited to the amount of public benefits received.
Special Needs Trusts can be created as stand-alone trusts funded with assets like life insurance or set up as sub-trusts within existing living trusts. Our Hackensack-based legal team can help you determine the best option for your family’s needs
Special Needs Estate Planning Online Resource Center
Planning for your loved one with special needs requires extensive research to become a well-educated advocate. You will want to keep up-to-date on the latest medical, educational, financial, and legal changes. —-FIRMNAME—- provides assistance to you and your family in addressing your unique concerns. Our law firm hopes this Special Needs Resource Center provides you with a quick reference to find the additional resources you may need.
- Social Security Resources:
Benefits for Children with Special Needs
Social Security Benefits Eligibility Screening Tool - Handbook for Trustees: A special needs trust can be a very powerful aid in managing care for a family member with a disability. It can provide supplemental items like therapy, respite care, dental work, companions, entertainment, education — all without interfering with the beneficiary’s SSI, Medicaid or other government programs. The special needs trust can be a flexible tool. It can also be very difficult and confusing to administer.
- eParent.com: Online resource for the special needs community, including families, caregivers, physicians, allied health care professionals, and teachers.
- The Arc: The Arc is a national organization of and for people with mental disabilities and related developmental disabilities and their families. The Arc works to promote and improve support and services for people with mental disabilities and their families and also fosters research into and education about the prevention of these disabilities in infants and young children.
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys: The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations and others who work with older clients and their families. The Academy provides information, education, networking and assistance to those who deal with the many specialized issues involved with legal services to the elderly and people with special needs.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families. There are NAMI organizations in every state and in over 1,100 local communities across the country.
- Center for Parent Information and Resources: The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) serves as a central resource of information and products to the community of Parent Training Information (PTI) Centers and the Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs), so that they can focus their efforts on serving families of children with disabilities. Use this list of states and territories to find the PTI or CPRC that serves your area.
- Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: This publication, the first Compendium, focuses on state-level statistics published by federal agencies.
Calculating Your Loved One’s Future Financial Needs
This free questionnaire can help you project the future expenses of a child with special needs.
Have more questions? Book a call and we can help.