Special Needs Planning Library
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Special Needs Trust Administration Manual: A Guide for Trustees.
Barbara Jackins, Richard S. Blank, Ken W. Shulman, Peter M. Macy and Harriet H. Onello. New York, N.Y.: iUniverse, 2004. 126 pages.
Special needs trusts enhance an individual's quality of life while allowing government benefits like Medicaid to continue. But many
trustees of such trusts are laypersons who may never have managed a trust before. Clients about to take on the job of trustee often ask their attorney, "Is there something I can read?"
The authors of this manual wrote it so that the answer could be, "Yes!"
The authors are five Massachusetts attorneys with extensive experience in creating and administering special needs trusts. Directed at anyone who is administering or considering administering such a trust -- either layperson or professional -- Special Needs Trust Administration Manual explains in an uncomplicated, user-friendly way the rules that govern special needs trusts and how those rules relate to the many complicated government programs that assist people with disabilities.
The manual covers the subject from A to Z, including general trust accounting rules, descriptions of public benefit programs, and instructions on making distributions from such trusts. Mistakes in this field can be very costly to the beneficiaries, potentially involving the loss of important coverage from public benefits programs and the requirement to pay back past benefits.
Because the authors are Massachusetts attorneys, the book explains how federal law and regulations are applied in that state. While the book is of value to readers in any state, the authors note that laws in other states may differ, particularly with respect to Medicaid, and that local attorneys should be consulted.
The Special Needs Planning Guide: How to Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child's Life.
John W. Nadworny and Cynthia R. Haddad. Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes Publishing, 2007. 336 pages.
Parents and caregivers of special needs children face numerous challenges – financial, emotional and legal. How do you create a
financially sound plan for your special needs child that takes into account future costs and supplemental needs? What are the key elements of any special needs trust? Can you create a special needs trust and maintain government benefits?
In their new book, The Special Needs Planning Guide: How to Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child's Life, John W. Nadworny and Cynthia R. Haddad answer these and other key questions in an easy-to-understand resource that divides special needs planning into four stages – birth to age 3, 3-15, 16-21, and 22 and beyond. Recognizing that each stage of life summons different issues, the authors – certified financial planners with special needs family members -- creatively interweave case examples from their own clients' experiences, placing a human face on a potentially dense topic. Special needs planning pointers and assessments give readers quick summaries of important points and issues.
Nadworny and Haddad cover every aspect of the subject, including family factors such as lifestyle, emotional factors such as denial, and financial and legal factors such as estate planning and government benefits. An accompanying CD-Rom contains printable and modifiable versions of a personal special needs planning timeline, a budget and expense worksheet, a letter of intent and an estimated monthly supplementary expense worksheet.
The guide transforms the confusion and anxiety of special needs planning into a comprehensive book with useful tools that any person can access and comprehend. The Special Needs Planning Guide will prove valuable for any family with special needs children.
