estate planning, Senior Citizens, Special Needs Planning
Should You Disinherit Your Child?
By estate planning attorney Rick Law. Rick is founder of the Estate Planning Center at Law Elder Law in West Suburban Aurora, IL. LEL is a multi-generation law firm. If you have a special needs son or daughter in your life, you’ve inevitably considered what would become of him or her if you were no longer able to provide care. As with all estate planning, the earlier you prepare, the better! One couple I worked with decided it was time to get around to planning for their disabled son who lived with them, since they had birthdays coming up – she was turning 89 and he was turning 92! Sometimes when families bring in a professional caregiver for the aging parents, those same caregivers begin providing necessary services to the child with a disability. This raises new challenges for those parents and their children. Since these disabilities will last the lifetime of the affected individual, how can a parent be assured that a disabled child is going to be taken care of, after the parent is either gone or in a nursing home? Some attorneys recommend that you leave all your assets to another, non-disabled child and make that child the caregiver for the disabled sibling. This passing of the torch is often unfair – and in many ways ill-advised. We do not believe disinheriting is the right choice. Of course, disinheriting the child means that you make sure that you do not leave any money to the child directly. This is part of an overly-simplistic idea that one should just leave extra money to one of the other children to provide care for the disabled child. I’ve seen too many times that this rarely works, even in the best of situations and in the best of families. Read on in the next installment of our blog to discover more hidden traps to avoid as you plan for your special child or grandchild. Too many families needlessly lose everything they have. Don’t let that be you. If you need help paying the overwhelming cost of long term care, give our office a call at 800-310-3100. Your first consultation is absolutely free. We’ll let you know what steps you need to take, right now, to protect yourself and your family. Call now, because when you’re out of money, you’re out of options! Sincerely, Rick L. Law, Attorney, Estate Planner for Retirees. Rick was named the #1 Illinois elder law estate planning attorney by Leading Lawyer Magazine. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, AARP Magazine, TheStreet.com, and numerous newspapers and articles. Rick is the lead attorney for Law Elder Law, LLP, focusing in Estate Planning, Guardianship, and Nursing Home Solutions. His goal is to give retirees an informed edge when it comes to dealing with an uncertain future. Get flexible retirement strategies that work during good times and bad, plus information on how you can save your home and assets from being used to pay for long term care. Call 800-310-3100 for your free consultation now!