Protecting Special Needs Children, the Disabled, and Aging Seniors
Nancy L. Stone, JD, MPH, Attorney at Law helps disabled individuals, the parents of special needs children, and the families of aging seniors with disability and special needs planning. We can work with you to preserve assets for the benefit of a loved one who is eligible for Social Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) without disqualifying the individual from need-based government benefits.
Attorney Nancy Stone, has over 15 years experience in health law and policy, public health, and elder care issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. She has the knowledge and experience needed to obtain your legal goals and protect your financial assets in the process.
Overview of Disability and Special Needs Planning
We can assist you with special needs planning and drafting documents, including the following:
- Special Needs Trusts or Supplemental Needs Trusts: These are trusts set up to preserve financial assets for the benefit of individuals who are legally disabled. The trust may be funded with assets of the individual or a third party. Trust funds may be used to supplement but not supplant government benefits.
- Powers of Attorney: A Durable Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an agent and to grant your agent broad powers to assist you with managing your financial matters. It is an essential document that helps you avoid the need for a court-appointed guardian. In addition, your agent’s powers can be expanded to include the powers to make gifts of your property and to create trusts, which are strategies used in Medicaid Planning and VA Aid and Attendance Planning.
- Revocable living trusts: A revocable living trust can be created to hold your property, including your home, for the benefit of you and your family. Trusts are often used to avoid probate, to preserve privacy, and to avoid guardianship. If the original trustee becomes incapacitated, revocable living trusts allow a successor trustee to step in with relative ease and manage trust property.
- Advance Directives: A Medical Power of Attorney allows you to appoint an agent to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event that you become incapacitated and cannot make health care decisions. The Directive to Physicians, or Living Will, allows you to express your wishes about the kind of care you prefer to receive if you are diagnosed with a terminal or irreversible condition, to indicate whether you prefer to receive comfort care or life-sustaining treatment at the end of life.