Special Needs
Why is Special Needs Planning So Important?
Individuals with special needs--such as developmental and intellectual disabilities and mental health disorders—must have a solid and well thought out plan in place to maintain their safety and well-being now and in the future. Proper planning can preserve eligibility for lifeline government benefits, while protecting inheritances and maintaining the desired standard of living. Our experienced and dedicated interdisciplinary team helps families navigate the matrix of governmental and private financial resources to create a plan that provides proper management of living arrangements, trustees, guardians, care managers, advocates. Having special needs family members themselves, our team is acutely aware of planning so that changing needs are accommodated.
Read more about Special Needs Planning
Read more about Special Needs Trusts
Read more about Guardianship & Alternatives
Special Needs Resource Library
- How Grandparents Can Help When An Adult Child Has a Child with Special Needs
- Independent Living for a Family Member with a Lifelong Disability
- Introduction to Government Benefits
- The Importance of Incorporating Beneficiary Designations into an Estate Plan
- ABLE Program Launched in MA: The Attainable Savings Plan?
- Documents Your Child Should Sign Before Leaving for College
- Future Planning for Adults with Disabilites and the Families that Support Them
- Gift Cards and Gift Certificates - Legal Prohibition?
- Life Planning Document Worksheet
- How Work Affects SSI, SSDI and CDB Eligibility
- Using ABLE Accounts to Avoid a One Third Loss in SSI
- DDS Application and Appeals Process: Getting to Eligibility
- Common Pitfalls in Administering a 3rd Party Funded Supplemental Needs Trust or OBRA 93 Special Needs Trusts
- Guardianship and Alternatives
- Government Benefits for Persons Who Are Disabled
- A Comparison Between First and Third Party Special Needs Trusts and ABLE Act
- Worried About Losing Your Home to the Costs of Long-Term Care?
- Understanding Special Needs Planning
- Creating a Real Home for a Family Member with a Disability: Top Ten Tips
- Integrating Futures Planning, Estate Planning and Legal Protections for Persons with Disabilities: A Primer
- OBRA `93 Changes in Medicaid Transfer of Asset Rules
- Personal Injury Settlements: Planning Considerations for Persons with Disabilities
- Preparing a Life-Planning Document for Your Disabled Family Member
- Special Needs Planning and Life Insurance
- Special Needs Planning for Extended Family Members
- Special Needs Trust Expenditures Can Include, But Are Not Limited To:
- Thinking Beyond Special Needs Trusts
- Issues When a Party in a Divorce Has a Disability or Has a Child With a Disability
- Lifelong Planning for Families with a Member With Long-Term Disabilities
- Memo to Parents Concerning First Party OBRA 93 Special Needs Trusts
- Memo to Trustees of OBRA '93 Supplemental Needs Trusts
- Military Child Protection Act Enables Military Members to Name Special Needs Trusts as Beneficiaries of a Survivor Benefit Plan
- Siblings Role in Managing a Special Needs Trust
- Special Needs Trust Helps Ensure Support, Care
- Introduction to Social Security Benefits Available to Persons with Disabilities
- Disability Advocates Prepare for Multiple Attacks on Lifeline Services
- Post-Emancipation Support Available Only If Adult Child Is Under Guardianship
- Estate Planning for the Adult Child Who Acts Out, Has Addictions, or Is Otherwise Challenged
- Social Security and Rep Payees
- Supplemental Needs Trusts and Nursing Home Planning
- Protect Assets with Qualified Special Needs Trusts When A Parent or Grandparent Enters A Nursing Home
- BOOKLET: Special Needs Trust Management
- Intellectual Disability Policy as Developed, Expressed, and Evaluated in AAIDD/The Arc Joint Statements: The Role of Organization Position Statements
- BOOKLET: Coming of Age in Massachusetts
News
- Fletcher Tilton Attorney Theresa M. Varnet Planning National Conference For Special Needs professionals
- Webinar 1
- Complimentary Special Needs Trust Webinar Series
- MA Lawyer's Weekly Features Inspiring Story About Attorney Fred Misilo and colleague Jenny Varnet.
- Special Olympics MA Falmouth Road Race Coming Up in August!