Donald and Shirley engaged Hickman & Lowder to draft their estate plan with special needs considerations in the early 1990s. At that time, their daughter, Angela, who has a developmental disability, was living with them and receiving minimal benefits from the government. Donald and Shirley put a trust in place to provide for Angela after […]
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Determining whether or not you or a loved one is entitled to Social Security Income (SSI) can be tricky. SSI is a needs-based program that looks at income and assets to determine eligibility. In fact, income reduces or eliminates SSI payments. One way to ensure our clients keep their SSI is by using an assignment […]
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Girls who struggle with mental health issues, including but not limited to: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, conduct disorders, and panic disorders, are being stigmatized even further in the educational system. They are not qualifying for the specially designed instruction they not only need, but deserve and have a right to receive at their schools. These […]
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It’s almost common knowledge that Medicaid imposes a “five-year lookback” to identify gifts made by a Medicaid applicant. In most circumstances, if an individual who is applying for Medicaid has given away their assets within the last five years, Medicaid will penalize that individual, even if they are currently out of funds, by not paying […]
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Quite a few of my clients have come to me for help when their child’s school day is made shorter than their typical peers. Sometimes, it is a matter of a bussing situation where the kids in special ed are on a bus that leaves 10 or 20 minutes before their typical peers. Other times, […]
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Recent changes in the laws have added new complexities and considerations when planning for a person with a disability. Although not all are changes to trust law, many of the programmatic changes impact how we handle special needs estate planning. The most important of these changes include:
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Attorneys must wear many hats, especially when representing people with disabilities and their families. Imagine a display of three hats on the conference room table: A black stovepipe hat, rimmed with a satin ribbon; the rumbled and worn, brown, slouchy, cloth Sorter Hat straight from Hogwarts in Harry Potter; and the most extravagant, eye-catching Kentucky […]
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