People with loved ones who have intellectual, developmental and mental disabilities face many complicated financial and legal issues. Planning for people with disabilities allows you to provide properly for those who cannot speak for themselves.
The need to plan has been magnified in recent years, since advances in medical and social treatment for people with developmental disabilities have increased their life expectancy. Greater longevity for the person with special needs creates a greater need for parents or caregivers to engage in proper planning, for both personal care and future financial needs.
If you have disabled loved one or a special-needs child, you may be entitled to benefits and programs that can help relieve the significant costs of their care.
Long term financial planning is essential to make sure that your loved one receives the benefits you have secured for them, even when you can no longer care for them yourself. With proper advice, it is possible not only to obtain benefits, but to protect funds — like money willed by a grandparent, for example — for the disabled individual by using Special Needs Trusts and other planning techniques.
Properly implemented, these techniques can preserve inherited funds, or those obtained from personal injury lawsuits, from interfering with a disabled person’s eligibility for government benefits like Medicaid, or Social Security Disability Income.
In certain situations, Guardianship Proceedings in Court may be necessary to protect the interests of those who cannot protect themselves. We have handled Guardianship Proceedings, both contested and uncontested, in the New York Courts, including trials to verdict in contested cases.
Our team has the knowledge and experience to protect disabled individuals and their families in Court, helping obtain government benefits, and to structure and implement financial and estate plans in a manner that preserves assets to the maximum extent possible.
We can assist you and your family with:
- Applying for Medicaid Benefits and Medicaid Advocacy
- Advocacy with government agencies
- Court Guardianship Proceedings relating to the elderly or the developmentally disabled (both contested and uncontested)
- Guardianship Administration
- Preparing Special Needs Trusts
- Preparing Estate Plans that protect the interests of family members with Special Needs
Our team can meet with you to review your individual situation, and offer you strategies and plans to assist your family with these very personal and important matters.