Special Needs Planning

As a handy checklist from a professor and tax expert makes clear, tax benefits for parents of children with special needs have changed due to recent federal legislation.

The risks of designing your own special needs plan, without the guidance of a professional, far outweigh the potential rewards of cutting costs. Here’s what’s at stake.

An exception to the SECURE Act's otherwise stringent rules about distributions from inherited IRAs potentially changes longstanding advice about leaving retirement funds to a special needs trust. ...

A special needs trust can allow individuals with special needs to preserve assets that will enhance their quality of life while allowing them to remain eligible for needs-based public benefits like Medicaid and SSI.

Special Needs 101

A recent felony charge against the mother of a special needs child in Minnesota offers a good reason why professional oversight of a special needs trust may be a good idea.  ...

It's easy to throw your new special needs trust into a drawer and forget about it.  While having a plan in place is a great start, the trust and related documents do need to be maintained.

Retirement plans often make up a significant portion of assets.  Can a retirement plan be put into a special needs trust?  As with many legal questions, the answer is "it depends." ...

Terminating a special needs trust is not as simple as merely writing a check to the remainder beneficiaries and calling it a day. There are several key considerations and requirements to keep in mind.

A new online calculator guides parents through the estate planning process by assessing the cost of everything their child with special needs is likely to need for the duration of his or her life.