Special Needs Planning

Protecting Our Clients’ Loved Ones Through Special Needs Planning

Caring for a loved one with special needs can be extremely rewarding, but also a bit overwhelming at times. Ensuring that your relative will always have the care they need involves a number of legal issues.

At Glatstein & O’Brien LLP, we believe that one of our firm’s strengths is our compassion and careful attention to the legal needs of vulnerable people and those who care for them. Whether you have a child with special needs or are caring for an adult with a disability, we can help you protect that person through special needs planning.

Attorney Carl Glatstein has focused much of his career on ensuring the care, protecting the rights, and promoting the interests of the elderly and people with disabilities. He has authored and co-authored numerous texts and articles on topics including guardianships and conservatorships, estates, medical decision-making, protective proceedings, and other issues affecting the elderly and people with special needs.

What Can Special Needs Planning Accomplish?

Special needs planning refers to the process of taking legal steps to ensure that someone has the legal authority to ensure your loved one with a disability is cared for. It can also include financial and insurance issues. Essential items to be considered when making a special needs plan include:

General estate planning. As part of your estate plan, you may wish to provide specific instructions about medical treatment, quality of care, education, and housing for your loved one with special needs.

Guardianships and conservatorships . If a person with a disability is unable to make decisions for his or her own benefit, another person must be given the power to act on their behalf. Parents of children with special needs naturally have that authority until their children reach the age of 18. Adults with special needs must have a guardian appointed by the court.

If your child has a disability and is about to turn 18, you will need to apply to the court for continued guardianship, or you will not have the legal authority to act on his or her behalf. Whether you have a minor child or you already have an established guardianship over an adult, you should also designate someone to take over your guardianship should you become incapacitated.

Special needs trusts or discretionary trusts. If you provide for your loved one financially or plan to leave him or her a financial gift as part of your estate plan, these trusts can be very useful. Properly created, they can reduce unnecessary tax liability and protect your loved one’s eligibility for Medicaid.

Ensuring your loved one will always have appropriate care requires you to be proactive. Contact us today for a initial consultation with a lawyer.

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At Glatstein & O’Brien LLP, we are committed to making sure that the citizens of Colorado with special needs are protected. Contact us for a initial consultation to discuss special needs planning.

If you have limited mobility, we are happy to meet at any Denver metro area location convenient to you.

Practice Areas

Elder Law
Estate Planning
Probate & Estate Administration
Probate Litigation