The O’Connors have been our clients for years. We prepared their estate plan in 2007 when they were in their 50s. We tell all of our clients to contact us every three to five years in order to do an estate planning check-up. We met with the O’Connors in our Boston office for their check-up.
In our meeting, the O’Connors mentioned that their daughter, Jane, had recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Jane was still living in the community, but the condition was getting worse and she was considering applying for Social Security Disability benefits. We told the O’Connors that they might wish to amend their estate plan to direct Jane’s share into a special needs trust for her benefit. Doing so would allow Jane to preserve any public benefits she might then be receiving like MassHealth, Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income. Additionally, the O’Connors could name a trustee who would manage Jane’s share and use the assets for anything she needed.
The O’Connors said that they never would have thought about creating a trust for Jane had they not come in for their estate planning check-up. Over the next few weeks, we prepared Jane’s trust. Now the O’Connor’s feel that their daughter will be well provided for in the future and that she will not lose her benefits.
The attorneys at OLG create special needs trusts for many different reasons. Please contact an attorney at OLG if you are concerned about leaving an interest in your estate to a child.