Estate Planning

Parents of children with special needs must be concerned with ensuring that medical and financial decisions will continue to be made in the child's best interest once the child reaches age 18 -- the age of legal capacity.

An alternative to individual special needs trusts are "pooled trusts," which pool the resources of many beneficiaries. Becoming part of one may have advantages, depending on the situation.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has put off the question of whether a special needs trust beneficiary is eligible for Medicaid until the state can locate its apparently lost Medicaid plan from 1972.

In many cases, the trustee of a special needs trust should hire a professional investment adviser. Here are some guidelines for hiring one.

Five tips to help plan for a child with special needs.

This book offers a boilerplate special needs trust. Our reviewer finds many flaws and asks: Why would you want to scrimp on the one tool that will provide for your child'™s lifetime care?...

Beneficiaries of a special needs trust can still qualify for federal housing assistance programs like Section 8, but careful planning is required to avoid having benefits reduced or eliminated.