Special Needs Planning: Ensuring a Smooth Transition
Planning for the future can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. By taking the time carefully to plan now, you can ensure a smooth transition later.
Navigating Special Needs Planning in the Post-SECURE Act Landscape
This issue of The Voice® is written by SNA member Shannon Laymon-Pecoraro, CELA of Parks Zeigler, PLLC in Virginia Beach, VA. Her firm’ services clients in the areas of family law, elder law, special needs planning, and will, trusts, and estates.
Securing the Future: The Essential Role of Special Needs Planning and Financial Planning
This article is provided by Andrew Hook, CELA of Hook Law Center in Virginia Beach, VA. Andy is a founding member of the Special Needs Alliance, and also is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM (CFP®). He focuses on elder law, special needs planning, and asset protection.
Ten Common Mistakes in Special Needs Planning
This issue of The Voice® is written by SNA member Thomas Begley, CELA of Begley Law Group in Moorestown, New Jersey. His firm specializes in special needs planning, special needs trusts, guardianship, and estate planning.
Designing and Implementing Annual Meetings for an Effective Special Needs Estate Plan: Strengthening Family and Professional Collaboration
This issue of The Voice® is written by SNA member Emily Taylor of Emily Taylor Law in Phoenix, Arizona. Her firm specializes in special needs planning, guardianship and alternatives, and estate planning.
Care and Caregiving Fees in Special Needs Trust Planning
This issue of The Voice® is by SNA member Rebecca Kueny of Kueny Law LLC. Located in Salem, Oregon, her firm covers the entire state of Oregon and focuses on special needs planning, disability benefits, estate planning, long-term care planning, and more.
What to Know When Your Child With Disabilities Turns 22
On the heels of a child with special needs’ biggest milestones becoming an adult at eighteen (18) comes the next and arguably more challenging milestone – life after turning twenty-two (22). What services end? What do parents and guardians need to know? To help prepare for this transition, we have highlighted some of the top considerations.
Legal Document Inventory for Individuals Engaged in Supported Decision-Making Arrangements
This issue of The Voice® was written by SNA member Richard Kroll with Kroll Law Firm, LLP in Rochester, NY. His firm focuses on trusts and estates, elder law, special needs planning and guardianships for greater Rochester, and seven county surrounding areas.
What Happens To My Child’s Social Security Benefit Upon Marriage?
This issue of The Voice® was written by SNA member Heather Conder, and her colleague Evan Barrett, who both work in the law firm of SNA member Charlene Quade, Esq. of C.K. Quade Law, PLLC. The firm was created with the desire to advocate for families and loved ones caring for children and adults with special needs. Located in Boise, Idaho, the practice serves clients in Idaho.
The Value of An Attorney’s Network
Special needs attorneys have many kinds of legal expertise, but they also work with a range of other kinds of professionals to help them meet their clients’ needs. This article explains the roles of these other professionals and how you can find an attorney with a good network of these contacts. An Attorney’s Professional Network [...]
Federal Employee Survivor Benefits for Children with Special Needs
The Voice® is the e-mail newsletter of the Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Sandra L. Smith, CELA, a partner with the firm of Oast & Taylor in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is certified as an elder law attorney (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation and is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
Are You Really Ready? Realistic Planning for Parents and Other Caregivers
The Voice® is the e-mail newsletter of the Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Edward Wilcenski, Esq., a founding partner of the law firm of Wilcenski & Pleat PLLC in Clifton Park, New York. He practices in the areas of Special Needs Planning, Elder Law, and Trust and Estate Planning and Administration. Ed is a past President of the Special Needs Alliance and writes and lectures frequently on issues affecting individuals with disabilities and their families.
Succession Planning for Guardians
When life is busy, planning ahead can be difficult. For those who are caring for a loved one with a disability there is so much to do in the present that planning for the future can be difficult and overwhelming. If a court has determined that the loved one lacks the capacity to make decisions [...]
Does My Child Need a Guardianship?
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Hyman Darling, Esq., a partner in the Springfield, Massachusetts, firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C. Mr. Darling concentrates his practice in estate planning, elder law, probate, special needs and guardianships/conservatorships. Before joining Bacon Wilson, he was a trust officer for several years. A frequent speaker for civic and charitable organizations, he serves on the American Cancer Society National Professional Advisory Committee and the boards of several western Massachusetts nonprofit organizations for persons with disabilities. He serves on the board of directors and has served as Secretary of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA).
Developing an Estate Plan for Parents of Children with Disabilities: A 15-Step Approach
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Laurie Hanson, Esq., a shareholder in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, elder law firm of Long, Reher & Hanson, P.A. with the help of her law clerk, Christine Jensen. The firm's focus is to provide positive strategies for individuals who are aging or living with disabilities to help them live as independently as possible for as long as possible. Laurie concentrates her practice exclusively in the areas of government benefit eligibility, special needs trusts, trust and public benefit litigation, estate planning, and planning for incapacity. She is the past president of the Elder Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association and is repeatedly named a super lawyer in the field of elder law by her peers.
Planning for Adult Children with Disabilities
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Bryn Poland, Esq. and Pi-Yi G. Mayo, CELA, of the Law Office of Pi-Yi Mayo, in Baytown, Texas (mayopoland.com). Their practice focuses on elder law and special needs planning, including special needs trusts, Medicare set-asides, and Qualified Settlement Funds. Both are members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Texas chapter (TX NAELA). Pi-Yi is a Certified Elder Law Attorney, Special Needs Alliance Executive Committee member, and currently serves on the Board of the TX NAELA chapter. Bryn graduated from Washburn University School of Law in 2007 and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Elder Law Committee of the Houston Bar Association. Together they have authored many papers covering topics from long term care insurance to Pickle people (https://mayopoland.com/resources/).
Housecleaning? Please Don’t Pitch These Records!
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Janet Lowder, CELA; Sandra J. Buzney, JD, LISW and Mary B. McKee, JD, who practice law in northeast Ohio with Hickman & Lowder Co., L.P.A. Janet and Sandra are members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA); Mary belongs to the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR). Janet is also the Vice President of the Special Needs Alliance, a national organization committed to helping individuals with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who represent them.
18, 19, 21 Candles on that Cake
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Barbara Hughes, Esq. of Madison, Wisconsin, who comes to her interest in facilitating the best in special education experiences from her long past "life" as a sixth grade teacher. Ms. Hughes is a partner in the Madison law firm of Hill, Glowacki, Jaeger & Hughes, LLP, where her practice is focused on special needs planning, elder law, and general estate planning and administration. A Fellow and past board member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, in recent years she (along with several of her law partners) has consistently been recognized as one of the city's best attorneys in Madison Magazine and selected as a Wisconsin estate planning and probate Super Lawyer in Law and Politics Magazine, ranking in 2009 as one of Wisconsin's 25 top women attorneys.
Peering Into the Crystal Ball: Planning for Potential Disability
The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Nancy Gibson, Esq., who practices in Missoula, Montana (in Montana's "banana belt"). Ms. Gibson's practice is limited to special needs planning, elder law and estate planning. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and finished her term as a member of the Special Needs Alliance Board earlier this year. Ms. Gibson has been very active in local, state and national advocacy and support groups, and frequently deals with the need for crystal ball gazing.