Are You Willing to Take the Risk of Not Planning?
Can you see into the future? That’s really the only way to know for sure whether to create a special needs trust for your child.
Since seeing in the future is probably not your talent (and if it were you wouldn’t be reading this), let me ask you this: “Is there any possibility that your child will not be able to support himself as an adult?”
If your answer to that question is “yes,” then you should probably create some form of a special needs trust. It’s the safest thing to do, unless you want to gamble on your child’s future.
Hope for the Best, But Plan for the Worst
Please understand me. I’m not asking you to be a pessimist about the future. I hope that your child will reach his or her greatest potential and live as full and independent a life as possible. However, if you want to be sure your child is taken care of no matter what happens, you’ll have to plan for the worst.
If you die before putting a plan in place, it’s nearly impossible to predict how things will turn out, but it’s safe to say that your child’s life won’t be as good as it could have been.
The reality is that some form of planning will be done one way or another. You can either do it yourself right now and save your family money and grief, or you can let someone else stitch a plan together without you.
A plan thrown together in an emergency will no doubt cost more money and be less desirable for your child. The reason is that some legal strategies cannot be used after the fact. In addition, YOU are the best person to create a plan for your child that will make them happiest. Why leave that to someone else who doesn’t know your child as well as you do?
How to Get Started
Don’t know what a special needs trust is? Read “What is a Special Needs Trust?” to find out more. Otherwise, you should know that a special needs trust is just one part of a larger special needs plan which you can start by yourself right now. It’s easy to do by requesting my free Special Needs Planning Step by Step e-Course.
When you are ready to create a special needs trust, I recommend that you hire an attorney to do it for you. You would expect me to say that since I’m an attorney, right?
By all means, educate yourself, but use that education to find an expert who can handle the nitty-gritty details.
