Article Highlights Seven Steps for Securing Your Child's Future

A recent article published online in the AARP Bulletin Today highlights seven steps aging parents can take to secure their child's future. Academy of Special Needs Planners co-founder Harry S. Margolis is quoted throughout this helpful guide that offers specific planning advice for parents worried about their child's future.

According to the article, more than 700,000 adults with developmental disabilities live with a caregiver over the age of 60. Because these adults are going to require care far into the future, and often at a substantial cost, the article (and the Academy of Special Needs Planners) recommends establishing a special needs trust to provide for the adult with disabilities' supplemental needs.

After creating the trust, Attorney Margolis points out that it often makes sense for parents to name a professional trustee for their child's trust, especially if the trustee who is in charge of managing the day-to-day trust operations is not financially savvy. (Click here for an article detailing what to look for when choosing a professional trustee.)

The article also discusses the necessary steps for figuring out a budget that will fit an adult with special needs' lifestyle well into the future, and warns caregivers to avoid giving gifts to children without disabilities in the understanding that they have a moral obligation to care for the child with special needs. According to Attorney Margolis, 'The problem with a morally obligated gift is that the other children get an inheritance, but it is not totally theirs . . . It can also create ruptures in the family, especially if the children that inherit do not agree on how to care for their disabled sibling.'