If you wish to gift assets to someone with special needs, care must be taken when making that gift because you could do more harm than good.  To ensure that you do not interfere with the beneficiary’s eligibility for much-needed state and federal assistance programs, you may choose to make your gift using a Special Needs Trust.  A Special Needs Trust is a specialized type of trust that is intended to provide financial support to someone who has special needs or who is disabled. The Waukegan special needs planning attorney at Hedeker Law, Ltd. explain the different types of special [Read more…]

If you are the parent or grandparent of a child with special needs, you probably already understand the heightened importance of estate planning. Great care must be taken when gifting assets to your child because he/she is likely receiving assistance from state and/or federal programs such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI), the solution can often be found in the creation of a special needs trust. To help you deice which type might be right for you and your estate plan, the Lincolnshire special needs planning attorneys at Hedeker Law, Ltd. explain the different types of special needs trusts. [Read more…]

If you are the parent of a child with special needs, you need to address your child’s needs in your estate plan to ensure that he or she is well protected both during your lifetime and after you are gone.  The Waukegan special needs planning attorneys at Hedeker Law, Ltd. understand the unique estate planning concerns that the parent’s of a child with special needs face. By including a special needs planning component in your comprehensive estate plan now you can address each of those concerns in a way that provides much needed legal and financial protection for your child. [Read more…]

Planning for the future takes on a heightened importance if you are the parent of a child with special needs. As a parent, you undoubtedly want to provide for your child, both while you are here and after you are gone. Doing so, however, takes careful planning when your child has special needs because consideration must be given to your child’s continued eligibility for state and federal assistance programs. The key to ensuring that your child will benefit from both your assets and the assistance of programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) is to work with a [Read more…]

If you are the parent of a child with special needs you are undoubtedly familiar with both the unguarded joy they bring to a family as well as the struggles they frequently face trying to figure out where they fit in with their peers. High school can be particularly difficult for a child with special needs when physical and/or mental disabilities prevent them from taking part in common teenage rights of passage. Prom night used to be a perfect example; however, thanks to the efforts of the Tim Tebow Foundation, along with thousands of volunteers, teenagers (14 and older) with [Read more…]