Tag Archives: Benji Rubin
Future Planning in Case of Your Own Special Needs or Medical Crisis
When you work on future planning for your family, including a child with special needs, you may want to consider that you may have special needs or a medical crisis at some point. Fortunately, there is a way to incorporate …
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Is It Ever “Too Late” to Start Future Planning for Your Child?
Your child with special needs is becoming a teenager, or is about to turn 18, or is an adult living independently. No matter how old your child is now, you may wonder if it is “too late” to start future …
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Why Your Special Needs Trust Should Be a Separate Free-Standing Document
When you decide to create a special needs trust for your child with special needs, you should ensure that the trust is prepared as a separate free-standing document. Some people think that creating SNTs in their wills or as part …
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Military Family and a Child with Special Needs? Tips for Future Planning
If you belong to a military family and have a child with special needs, you have some unique future planning issues to address. Since being in the military can create some uncertainty about your plans and residence, future planning is …
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How Can Future Planning Help Us Meet the Resource Limits for Benefits?
Most government benefits programs have strict “resource limits” for people applying to receive benefits. If your resources exceed the limit, you will not qualify for benefits. Future planning can help families of individuals with special needs who must have government …
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Which Expenses Cannot Be Paid from an ABLE Account?
If your child with special needs has an ABLE account, you may be wondering which expenses you can pay with money from the account. ABLE accounts can only fund certain expenses for their beneficiaries – you cannot use the money …
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Which Expenses Cannot Be Paid from a 3rd Party Special Needs Trust?
Special needs trusts can pay some expenses for their beneficiaries without penalties. If you are a family member of a person with special needs or the trustee of an SNT, you should learn about which expenses the trust money can …
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Are You the Surviving Spouse? Making Changes to Your Family’s Future Plan
If your spouse passes away, you will need to make some changes to your family’s future plan. In your grief, seeing your lawyer is probably not your first priority. But changing your estate plan could save you many headaches in …
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Taking Over Care for an Older Relative with Special Needs
When you first take over care for an older relative with special needs, you will have a steep learning curve. You will need to figure out everything from benefits to estate planning for your relative. Here are a few places …
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Why to Start Future Planning When Your Child with Special Needs Is Young
Starting to future plan while your child with special needs is young could produce unexpected benefits. In addition to setting up wills and medical directives for everyone in your immediate family, you should talk to your own parents about their …
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How Is a Guardianship Different from a Power of Attorney?
When your child with special needs turns age 18, you may lose all ability to assist with healthcare and financial decisions if you do not take a few crucial steps. At 18, the government considers your child an adult and …
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Future Planning When Your New Child or Stepchild Has Special Needs
If you have just welcomed a new child or stepchild who has special needs into the family, you probably have questions and need some help sorting out your new life. You are not alone – many families like yours feel …
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Why to Future Plan for Yourself, Not Just Your Child with Special Needs
When you have a child with special needs, there is so little time to think about the future. You are constantly busy caring for and advocating for your child. Despite your full schedule, you need to make time to do …
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What Is the Ligas Consent Decree? Will It Help My Child?
The Ligas Consent Degree is a legal agreement that could help your child with special needs receive community services, instead of institutional care. To best understand your child’s rights to certain services, it will be helpful to understand a little …
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Can You Leave a 401(k) to Your Child with Special Needs?
If you have just started a 401(k) or are doing retirement planning, your first impulse may be to leave your 401(k) money to your children. When one of your children has special needs, doing this is not a good plan. …
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Worried About Affording Long-Term Care? How Future Planning for Your Child With Special Needs Can Help YOU Pay for Long-Term Care for Yourself
If you are thinking about buying long-term care insurance or are still on the fence, you should consider beginning future planning for your child too. Doing some future planning can help you provide for your child and pay for your …
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What Are Medicaid HCBS Waivers? Why They Are So Important, Especially for Adults With Special Needs
If you are working on getting services for your child with special needs, you may have heard about Medicaid HCBS waivers. You may not realize how important getting an appropriate HCBS waiver is for adults with special needs. What Are …
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Can You Use Money from a 529 Plan to Help Your Child with Special Needs?
If you began saving money for your child’s education in a 529 plan, you probably were planning to use that money on your child’s education at some point in the future. For children with special needs, money for expenses related …
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Required “Pay Back” for Illinois ABLE Accounts: What You Need to Know
You may have heard that the state of Illinois changed the ABLE account laws to remove the required “pay back” when an account beneficiary dies. Families of people with ABLE accounts may think this change will help them. Unfortunately, the …
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ABLE Accounts: What’s New in 2018?
Due to new tax laws passed in 2017, individuals with special needs can make more contributions to their ABLE accounts than they could in the past. ABLE accounts are special savings accounts that have tax advantages. They can be established …
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A Guardian’s Rights and Responsibilities in Illinois
In Illinois, guardians for people with special needs have specific rights and responsibilities to meet. If you have become a guardian or are considering a guardianship for your adult child, take some time to learn about what a guardian must …
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Ending a Guardianship: How and When to Do It
When you are deciding whether to pursue guardianship for your adult child with special needs, you should learn about ending a guardianship. You may realize that since ending a guardianship is difficult, you might be better off waiting to seek …
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What Is the Illinois PUNS List, and Why Is It Important?
Trying to get services for your child with developmental disabilities can be a struggle. You face long waiting lists, reams of paperwork, inconvenient appointment times, and more. In Illinois, you need to enroll your child on the PUNS List to …
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Health Insurance for Relatives with Special Needs
Families often struggle to pay for health care for their relatives with special needs. Insurance rarely covers all the costs, and the many doctors’ invoices and prescription co-pays may be overwhelming. Make sure you take advantage of all the health …
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Will a Divorce Impact Our Special Needs Trust?
When you and your spouse start talking about divorce, you should consider the effects of splitting up on your child with special needs. Divorce will require changes to your future planning, including – potentially – available benefits and your child’s …
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How to Gather Information to Include in a Letter of Intent
You read online or heard from your lawyer that you should write a “letter of intent” for your child with special needs. But you have no idea where to start. Your daily life is busy and sometimes chaotic, and sitting …
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Do You Need to Change Your Future Planning Due to the New 2018 Tax Laws?
In January 2018, several new tax laws went into effect that could change your future planning. You should check in with the lawyer who prepared your estate plan and any documents for your child with special needs to see if …
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Top 5 Reasons to Start Future Planning Today
If you are hesitant about starting your future planning now, here are five reasons not to delay. Even if you have just learned that your child has special needs, it is never too early to make a plan. There’s No …
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Future Planning for an Independent Adult with Special Needs
If your family includes an independent adult with special needs, you should do some future planning to ensure your child or other relative has everything he or she needs to continue living independently. Here are a few suggestions and options …
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The Gift Tax and Special Needs Trusts
When you give money to a special needs trust, you may worry that you or the trust will owe the IRS money for the gift when Tax Day rolls around. Both assessing the gift tax and taxation of an SNT …
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Your Relative with Special Needs Plans to Get Married. What Next?
When you learn that your relative with special needs plans to get married, you probably have many questions about the future. Importantly, you should be concerned about whether your family member can continue to receive government benefits after marriage. If …
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Can You Leave Retirement Account Funds to a Relative with Special Needs?
If you support a relative with special needs, you may want to leave your retirement account funds to him. If this is not done correctly this can be a big problem. When you leave money or assets to a person …
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Can You Leave Life Insurance Proceeds to a Relative with Special Needs?
You may be interested in purchasing life insurance as a way to fund your child with special needs’ future expenses. It’s fine to get a policy as long as you can afford it. But do not make the common mistake …
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How to Involve Your Child with Special Needs in Future Planning
When you first start future planning for your child with special needs, he or she might be too young to get involved in the many decisions you have to make. As time goes by, your child may express strong preferences …
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What You Need to Know Before Your Child with Special Needs Turns 18
Don’t wait until your child with special needs turns age 18 to begin planning. Becoming a legal adult leads to many changes in available benefits, needs, and your ability to act on your child’s behalf. Here are just a few …
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Is Long-Term Care Insurance Worth It?
You may have heard about buying long-term care insurance. This insurance helps cover the costs of a care facility outside the home or even nursing care inside of your home. There are a few pros and cons of long-term care …
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Just Moved to Illinois with Your Child with Special Needs? What You Need to Know
If you have just moved to Illinois and have a child with special needs, you need to take action now to ensure your child gets vital services. You also need to make sure that your child and your family are …
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The Federal Gift Tax and People with Special Needs
You may not know that the federal gift tax could affect your future planning for your family if you have a child or other relative with special needs. First, you will need an introduction to how the gift tax works. …
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How Do SNTs Affect Beneficiaries with Special Needs’ Eligibility for Subsidized Housing?
The federal and state governments subsidize some housing under programs such as “Section 8” for people with special needs. Some people who want to apply for Section 8 have special needs trusts (SNTs) that benefit them. If you are considering …
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Income Taxation of Special Needs Trusts, Part 2
In your future planning for your child with special needs, remember to consider income taxation of special needs trusts, including Qualified Disability Trusts (QDTs). If you set up a special needs trust (“SNT”) with another law firm, the attorneys may …
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Trusts: The Basics
People just beginning their future planning may hear many terms thrown around by their relatives and attorneys: trust, beneficiary, settlor, and more. For those unfamiliar with trusts, the many different words used to describe them can be quite confusing. This …
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What Is a Guardian Ad Litem?
A guardian ad litem, or guardian “for the suit”, can be appointed by the court before a guardianship hearing to act in the guardianship proceeding. The court can appoint a guardian ad litem to report to the judge about the …
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When You Have No Estate Plan: Part 2
Not having an estate plan could lead to serious consequences for your family in your absence. Future planning not only helps you move forward if you have a serious illness or if you are in need of money in the …
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When You Have No Estate Plan: Part 1
When you have no estate plan, life changes could lead to personal and financial disaster. Future planning is all about planning now to save time, trouble, stress, and money in the future. If you are on the fence about creating …
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Picking the Right Professionals for Your Trust
Trustees of special needs trusts often need to pick professionals to assist with trust management and oversight. With so many licensed professionals to choose from, how does a careful trustee find the “right” professionals? Consider a few basic guidelines. How …
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Trustee Fiduciary Duties, Part 2
Trustees have fiduciary duties to beneficiaries of trusts that they oversee. The duty to account and the duty to invest and manage trust assets prudently are two very important fiduciary duties that are difficult for many family member trustees to …
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Going to Court for the Guardianship Hearing
When you seek a guardianship for a person with special needs, you must follow many of the same formalities as in a court case. Obtaining a guardianship is a serious matter because it strips the person with special needs of …
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Can a Guardian or Trustee File a Lawsuit on Behalf of an Individual with Special Needs?
An individual with special needs may need a guardian or trustee to file a lawsuit on his behalf. If it makes sense to file a lawsuit under the circumstances, the individual with special needs or relatives will need to determine …
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Trustee Fiduciary Duties, Part 1
Trustees have fiduciary duties in administering trusts. These duties arise from state law, including statutes and court cases. Fiduciary duties help ensure that a trustee best manages assets for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries. The duty of care requires trustees to …
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The Legal Procedure for Seeking Guardianship
The legal procedure for seeking guardianship of an adult with special needs in Illinois involves petitioning the court for an order appointing a guardian. Petitioners must follow court procedure exactly to receive the order. Either an “interested person” such as …
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What Is the Difference Between Medicaid and Medicare?
Despite their similar-sounding names, Medicaid and Medicare are very different programs. To understand how these programs could factor into your future planning for someone with special needs, learn about Medicaid and Medicare functions and eligibility requirements. Medicaid Medicaid assists people of all …
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What Is the Difference Between SSDI and SSI?
Special needs future planning should include guidance in applying for and determining how to remain eligible for government benefits such as SSDI and SSI. If this is your first time learning about the various benefits that are available, you may …
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Why Is Medicare Deducting Premiums from My SSDI Check, and Can the Deductions Be Avoided?
Medicare is a federal government health insurance program covering costs such as hospital charges, home health care, doctor fees, lab costs, outpatient care, and prescription drug coverage. Recipients pay premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance. For Medicare recipients who cannot afford all of …
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Tax Benefits of a Qualified Disability Trust
The IRS classifies some special needs trusts as Qualified Disability Trusts, and these trusts have certain tax benefits . QDTs may claim a personal exemption on their federal income tax returns. Please note, as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs …
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Income Taxation of Special Needs Trusts, Part 1
In your future planning for your child with special needs, remember to consider income taxation of special needs trusts. If you set up a special needs trust (“SNT”) with another law firm, the attorneys may not have discussed how you …
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What Is a Resource? What Is Countable? Your Questions about SSI Eligibility Answered
Evaluating your countable resources is key to determining your SSI eligibility. Making this evaluation, however, can be complicated and confusing. Start by determining which items owned by you or owned by the planned SSI recipient are “resources”. A “resource” for …
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Qualifying for Federal Subsidized Housing
Qualifying for federal subsidized housing can be an important step toward living independently for individuals with special needs. The federal government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), funds public housing for eligible people with special needs. This …
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Payments from Non-Special Needs Trusts to People with Special Needs
For people with special needs, receiving a payment from a non-special needs trust may have significant consequences. In fact, any unexpected payments can jeopardize a person with special needs’ eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, Medicaid, and other government …
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New Illinois PAC Aims to Help People with Special Needs
Inclusion PAC, a new political action committee, aims to help people with special needs in Illinois. Rubin Law is excited to highlight Inclusion PAC ’s formation because it is the first PAC in Illinois and one of the first in the nation …
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Short-Term Guardian Declarations
A guardian of a person with special needs who will be unavailable for a short period of time should execute a short-term guardian declaration. The declaration has the effect of appointing a temporary guardian for the ward (the person with …
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Money Management for an Adult with Special Needs
Money management for an adult with special needs is an important life skill. With the many restrictions on spending due to the SSI and Medicaid rules, learning how to spend and save money without going into debt or helping a …
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Medical Directives: Which Ones Do You Need?
Signing medical directives can be especially important for people with special needs and their family members because it may be more difficult for them to communicate their treatment wishes to doctors. The terms medical directive, power of attorney, and end-of-life …
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HIPAA and Adults with Special Needs
Families of adults with special needs should become familiar with how HIPAA affects medical privacy and decision-making. HIPAA is an acronym that stands for “Health Information Portability and Accountability Act”, a federal law that governs health information privacy and security. For …
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Different Definitions of “Special Needs” Under the Law
Different federal and state laws provide very different definitions of the terms “disability” or “special needs”. You may be surprised to learn that many individuals whom their families, doctors, or communities consider to have special needs are not protected by …
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How Much Money Do You Need to Fund a Special Needs Trust?
If you are thinking about forming a special needs trust, you may be wondering how much money you need to fund it. In truth, there is no way to know how much your child will need for the rest of …
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What Is the Illinois Health Care Surrogate Act?
For people with special needs and their families, the Illinois Health Care Surrogate Act provides much-needed peace of mind about making medical decisions if they have not yet started the future planning process. The Health Care Surrogate Act allows family members or friends to make …
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Special Needs Future Planning When Future Health Care Funding Is Uncertain
Parents of children with special needs, advocates, and care providers have followed recent news about health care funding with worry , because health care funding proposals would cut Medicaid funding by 25 percent or more. While lawmakers in Washington have not passed …
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How Can I Use Insurance to Protect My Child with Special Needs’ Future?
Protecting the future of your child with special needs requires a many-faceted approach, and insurance is only a part of it. Have you considered the role that insurance will play in your future plan? If not, now is the time …
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Expenditures from a Special Needs Trust
Families of individuals with special needs use special needs trusts to save for future expenses and protect eligibility for government benefits. Eventually, you or, in the case of 3rd party special needs trusts more likely the successor trustees, will need …
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Can a Person with Special Needs Keep His Driver’s License Even If He Has a Guardian?
Maintaining independence and stability for people with special needs strongly motivates many decisions about their lives, including the most appropriate form of transportation. People who have special needs and their families should be aware that guardianships can significantly change their …
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Your Non-Special Needs Children May Need Estate Plans Too
If you are working on your family’s estate plan to protect your child with special needs, be aware that your other children may need to do some future planning too. As described in a previous blog article on our website, leaving your estate …
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What Is a Letter of Intent?
Advocates for people with special needs often talk about writing a “letter of intent” for your family member’s care. What exactly is a letter of intent? What should you include in your letter? Here are a few suggestions. Every letter …
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Estate Planning for Your Extended Family
When estate planning for your family’s future, don’t forget that extended family members may need to change their plans too if they want to help your child with special needs. This article described some common situations that arise when well-meaning relatives …
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Risks of Leaving Your Estate to Your Special Needs Child’s Sibling
When making your estate plan, be aware that there are substantial risks to leaving your estate to the sibling of your child with special needs. Sometimes, doing so seems like the least complicated solution – the sibling can use funds …
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Post-22 Programs Available in Illinois
Individuals with special needs living in Illinois qualify for a number of educational services and assistance until they turn age 22. As families of individuals with special needs know, these needs do not stop at age 22, but many may …
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Learn About Pooled Special Needs Trusts
Pooled special needs trusts differ greatly from individual special needs trusts and can be a great way to gain the benefits of an SNT while reducing some of the practical downsides. Both pooled and individual SNTs have the same goal …
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Can a Person with Special Needs Establish His Own Trust?
As of December 30, 2016, individuals with special needs who have capacity can establish their own special needs trusts. See 21st Century Cures Act, P.L. 114-255, Section 5007 (2016). Previously, first party self-settled special needs trusts could only be created with the help …
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Types of Illinois Adult Guardianships
Illinois law permits several different types of adult guardianships. Guardianships protect people with special needs by allowing guardians to make financial, legal, and logistical decisions for them. Guardianships are supervised by the probate court, which appoints a guardian, oversees administration of …
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Who Can Make Decisions for a Minor Child with Special Needs?
If you are in the position of making decisions for a minor with special needs, you may wonder who besides you can make these often-difficult decisions. Generally, parents are the only ones who can decide things for their children. If …
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Pros and Cons of Using a Bank as a Trustee
When forming a special needs trust for your child, you may wonder whether using a bank as a trustee or other professional individual or entity is a good idea. An “institutional trustee”, which is called a corporate trustee, refers to …
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What Is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney ensures that someone will be there to make decisions for a person when he is no longer able to make them for himself. It is a legal document specifying that a certain person or persons can …
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Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts: How They Work
Irrevocable life insurance trusts (“ILIT”) can be one part of future planning for individuals with special needs. Like other future planning methods, people planning to use an ILIT as part of their plan should learn about important provisions to include …
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Can an SNT Be the Beneficiary of My Retirement Account?
When determining whether you can name a special needs trust (SNT) as the beneficiary of your retirement account and accomplish your intended result, you will quickly learn that the answer is “it depends.” It depends on the type of beneficiary …
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How a Veteran Can Leave His Military Pension to a Special Needs Trust
Under recent changes to military pension plan rules, you can leave your pension to a special needs trust for the benefit of a child with special needs. Military members may choose the Survivor Benefit Plan ( SBP ) option, as part …
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Our Personal Experience Drives Our Legal Practice
When our firm’s founder Brian Rubin began practicing special needs future planning, he drew on his personal experience. Brian’s son Mitchell has autism and other diagnosed special needs. He was born in 1981, and Brian has focused solely on helping …
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Why Is Estate Planning for People with Special Needs Different?
There are a number of reasons why estate planning for people with special needs can be different than planning for people who do not have special needs. Understanding these reasons will help you during the initial planning process and beyond. …
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Why Our Firm Only Practices in the Area of Special Needs Planning
From our personal experience, we know that families who are planning for their special needs relatives’ futures need strong advocates to advise them. Brian Rubin began to dedicate his legal practice to special needs planning after the birth of his …
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