When it comes to protecting Medicaid eligibility and other vital public benefits for elderly, incapacitated, and disabled persons, timing is critical, and in-depth knowledge of this specialized area of the law is essential. In addition, when special needs children become legal adults at age eighteen, parents’ authority to protect their child is drastically limited by the law; in addition, many benefits become potentially available–but only if you know how to take advantage of them. Midlothian Estate & Elder Law has the experience to provide the guidance and solutions you need, when you need them. To help identify our clients’ goals in special needs planning, we engage them in our pre-meeting questionnaire (pdf).
Our special needs planning expertise includes:
- Establishing and administering special needs trusts approved by Medicaid.
- Estate planning that will provide for comprehensive benefits and services for special needs beneficiaries.
- Personal injury settlement consulting.
- Guidance on benefits available to special needs adults
If you have a loved one with special needs, Medicaid and other public benefits programs may be crucial in financing the appropriate level of care. Unfortunately, those benefits can’t cover all the general care desired. Special Needs Trusts provide a means of improving your loved one’s quality of life by paying for the treatment and living expenses not covered by public benefits. In some cases, our attorneys can establish Special Needs Trusts to preserve needed assets that would otherwise cause the disabled individual to be ineligible for Medicaid or other public benefits. This structure may be particularly helpful when a Medicaid applicant or recipient will be receiving a personal injury settlement, an inheritance, or assets pursuant to a divorce.
Additionally, parents and grandparents often worry about providing financial support to their disabled children and grandchildren after their death. If a family member with special needs is the direct beneficiary of your estate, insurance or retirement benefits at your death, they may lose or be unable to establish eligibility for Medicaid or other important public benefits. Our attorneys can help create a wise estate plan for you and your family without disinheriting beneficiaries who are vulnerable to exploitation or who rely on Medicaid and other public benefits programs.
