Estate Planning

Estate planning is not only about transferring your assets at your death or minimizing taxes. It has the benefits of avoiding family friction and experiencing the joy of gifting during and after your lifetime.

The American Bar Association defines it as “a process involving professional advisors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and how they are owned, and your family structure. It can involve the services of a variety of professionals, including your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, life insurance advisor, banker and broker.”

When you have a child with a disability, estate planning requires thinking more seriously about the generation that follows you. Protecting resources for the future of an adult with a disability becomes an important consideration if you think that your son or daughter will need government support as an adult (Supplemental Social Security, Medicaid for health and community work or living services, etc.).

Estate planning advisors include a lawyer, financial planner, and often a disability professional to help in developing a person-centered plan for the adult with the disability on which to base any estate plan. If your loved one requires legal or health representatives, it is important to identify who will play those and other roles in the future when you are no longer able to perform them.