Planning for Retirement with a Special Needs Child

July 8, 2024

Retirement is a time to relax and enjoy life after years of hard work. However, parents of children with special needs will need to handle this transition with care. Planning for retirement with a special needs child is critical to your child’s long-term care and your own financial future.

Beginning your retirement planning early is crucial. Likewise, this process should be an extension of your existing financial planning. Starting early allows you to anticipate state and federal benefits changes and adjust your strategies accordingly.

For instance, Medicaid waivers and other support systems can be unpredictable. Just because these benefits systems can supplement your needs today doesn’t mean they’ll be able to do so tomorrow. Flexible, far-sighted financial preparation can help you absorb changes in benefits programs.

Open communication between both parents is vital. It’s common for parents to prioritize their child’s needs over their own retirement savings. However, finding a balance is key. Both parents should be on the same page regarding their goals for retirement and their child’s future. Involving a financial planner and a special needs attorney can help align these goals and create a comprehensive plan.

Two professionals with Special Needs Alliance weighed in on planning for retirement with a special needs child. One, Jeff Yussman, emphasizes the importance of honest discussions about assets, liabilities, and the desired retirement lifestyle.

Another advisor, Emily Kile, highlights the need to leave an advocate for their child in advance. It may be smart to move a child with special needs to a future housing option while parents are still alive. This can reduce the pain and uncertainty of making such moves when the parents pass away.

The first step is reviewing the titles on your accounts, beneficiary designations and estate plans. Ensuring that the chosen trustees and agents align with the goals for your child with special needs is critical. You should consider the financial security available through life insurance policies, such as second-to-die life insurance.

Parents must also plan for the long-term care of their child with special needs. This includes preparing for the potential loss of private health insurance and understanding the longevity of their financial plans. It is important to have regular estate planning meetings that account for these factors.

While well-intentioned family members might offer to care for your child, their circumstances can change. Marriages, divorces, and other life events can impact their ability to provide consistent care. Plan for these variables to ensure your child’s stability.

Planning for retirement with a special needs child can be challenging. However, you don’t have to do it alone. If you would like to learn more about special needs planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Special Needs Alliance (Oct. 7, 2022) “retirement planning steps you need to take”

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Qualified Disability Trust can reduce Tax Burden

April 4, 2023

A qualified disability trust can help reduce the tax burden associated with special needs trusts. A qualified disability trust, or QDisT, qualifies for tax exemptions and applies to most trusts created for an individual with special needs. In most cases, explains a recent article from Investopedia, “Qualified Disability Trust: Meaning and Tax Requirements,” the person receiving income from the trust must pay income tax. However, in 2003, the IRS added a section allowing some disability trusts to reduce this tax liability. This is another example of why reviewing estate plans every few years is important.

Trusts need to meet several requirements to be considered qualified disability trusts for tax purposes. However, if a special needs trust meets these criteria, it could save a lot in taxes.

Most special needs trusts already meet the requirement to be treated as qualified disability trusts and can be reported as such at tax time. For 2022 tax year, the tax exemption for a QDisT is $4,400. For tax year 2023, the amount will increase to $4,700. Income from a QDisT is reported on IRS Form 1041, using an EIN, while distributions to the beneficiary will be taxed on their own 1040 form.

The best way to fully understand a QDisT is through an example. Let’s say a child is diagnosed with a disability, and their grandparents contribute $500,000 to an irrevocable special needs trust the child’s parents have established for the child’s benefit. The trust generates $25,000 in annual income, and $10,000 is used annually for expenses from the child’s care and other needs.

Who pays the income tax bill on the trust’s gains? There are a few options.

The parents could include income from the trust as part of their taxes. This would be “on top” of their earned income, so they will pay their marginal tax on the $25,000 generated from the trust—paying $8,000 or more.

Alternatively, trust income spent for the child’s benefit can be taxed to the child—$10,000, as listed above. This would leave $15,000. However, this must be taxed to the trust. Trust income tax brackets are high and increase steeply. Paying this way could lead to higher taxes than if the parents paid the tax.

The QDisT was designed to alleviate this problem. QDisTs are entitled to the same exemption allowed to all individual taxpayers when filing a tax return. In 2012, for instance, the personal tax exemption was $3,800, so the first $3,800 of income from QDisTs wasn’t taxed.

The deduction for personal exemptions is suspended for tax years 2018 to 2025 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, except the same law said that in any year there isn’t a personal exemption, the exemption will be allowed for a QDisT.

For tax year 2022, $4,400 is the indexed tax exemption amount for these trusts, including most special needs trusts. For tax year 2023, the amount will increase to $4,700.

To be reported as a qualified disability trust, specific requirements must be met:

The trust must be irrevocable.
The trust must be established for the sole benefit of the disabled beneficiary.
The disabled beneficiary must be under age 65 when the trust is established.
The beneficiary must have a disability included in the definition of disabled under the Social Security Act.
The trust must be a third-party trust, meaning all funding must come from someone other than the disabled beneficiary.

An experienced estate planning attorney can help set up a qualified disability trust that can help reduce the tax burden and allow you to enjoy the benefits the statute grants. If you would like to learn more about special needs planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Investopedia (March 4, 2023) “Qualified Disability Trust: Meaning and Tax Requirements”

Special Needs Trusts can Protect disabled Child

July 11, 2022

Parents with disabled children worry about how their offspring will manage when parents are no longer able to care for them. Leaving money directly to a child receiving means-tested government benefits, like Social Security Supplemental Income or Medicaid, could make them ineligible for these programs, explains an article from Kiplinger titled “Estate Planning: A Special Trust for a Special Need.” In most states, beneficiaries of either program are only allowed to have a few thousand dollars in assets, with the specific amount varying by state. However, the financial support from government programs only goes so far. Many families opt to have their own family member with special needs live at home, since the benefit amount is rarely enough. A Special Needs Trust can protect your disabled child.

The solution is a Special Needs Trust, which provides financial support for a disabled individual. The SNT owns the assets, not the individual. Therefore, the assets are excluded from asset limit tests. The funds in the trust can be used to enhance quality of life, such as a cell phone, a vacation or a private room in a group living facility. The SNT is a means of making sure that a vulnerable family member receives the money and other relatives, such as a sibling, don’t have a financial burden.

SNTs can only be created for those who are younger than age 65 and are meant for individuals with a mental or physical disability so severe they cannot work and require ongoing support from government agencies. A disabled person who can and does work isn’t eligible to receive government support and isn’t eligible for an SNT, although an estate planning attorney will be able to create a trust for this scenario also.

Each state has its own guidelines for SNTs, with some requiring a verification from a medical professional. There are challenges along the way. A child with autism may grow up to be an adult who can work and hold a job, for instance. However, estate planning attorneys recommend setting up the SNT just in case. If your family member qualifies, it will be there for their benefit. If they do not, it will operate as an ordinary trust and give the person the income according to your instructions.

SNTs require a trustee and successor trustee to be responsible for managing the trust and distributing assets. The beneficiary may not have the ability to direct distributions from the trust. The language of the trust must state explicitly the trustee has sole discretion in making distributions.

Because every state has its own system for administering disability benefits, the estate planning attorney will tailor the trust to meet the state’s requirements. The SNT also must be reported to the state. If the beneficiary moves to another state, the SNT may be subjected to two different sets of laws and the trustee will need to confirm the trust meets both state’s requirements.

SNTs operate as pass-through entities. Tax treatment favors ongoing distributions to beneficiaries. Any earned investment income goes to the beneficiary in the same year, with distributions taxed at the beneficiaries’ income tax rate. Trust assets may be used to pay for the tax bill.

As long as all annual income from the trust is distributed in a given year, the trust will not owe any tax. However, a return must be filed to report income. For any undistributed annual investment income, the trust is taxed at one of four levels of tax rates. These range from 10% and can go as high as 37%, depending on the trust income.

An SNT can be named as the beneficiary of a traditional IRA on the death of the parent. Investments grow tax deferred, as long as they remain in the retirement account and the SNT collects the required minimum distributions for the retirement account each year, with the money passing as income. However, any undistributed amount of the required distribution will be taxed at the trust’s highest tax rate. Using a Special Needs Trust can protect your disabled child and ensure they have a quality of life for years to come. If you would like to learn more about SNTs, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (June 8, 2022) “Estate Planning: A Special Trust for a Special Need”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Adult Guardianship and Autistic Children

September 15, 2020

For parents of autistic children, the coming of an 18^th birthday is the time when hard decisions need to be made regarding adult guardianship. It allows parents to continue to make important decisions for their child, but it does severely limit the child’s rights and freedoms. State laws often require that less restrictive alternatives be considered before a guardianship is ordered, says the article “Adulthood And Autism: A Crossroads In Life” from Autism Key.com.

An adult guardianship is a court proceeding that appoints another person to make decisions about a person’s health, safety, support, care and residence. The procedure varies from state to state. However, the process generally starts with an interested party filing a petition, with the court stating why guardianship for the person, known as the “ward,” is necessary. The person who has filed for guardianship and others, including parents, spouses, or relatives, all receive a copy of the petition. An independent evaluator assesses the ward and reports on their capacity. There is a hearing and the court determines whether guardianship is needed. The ward has the right to hire counsel, or the court can provide counsel.

Once the guardian is appointed, the court may limit or completely terminate the ward’s ability to make decisions regarding medical treatment, where they live and other important decisions. The guardian is required to make decisions that are always in the best interest of their ward and to encourage the ward to participate in decisions. A report must be filed with the court every year to advise of the ward’s status.

Most states have a law known as the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act, which makes it easier for states to transfer guardianship from one state to another, if the person moves. Florida, Kansas, Texas and Michigan do not have this law.

Adult Guardianship is an emotional decision for parents to make. They want their autistic child to be protected, at the same time they hope their child can reach a certain level of independence, within the limits of their capacity.

An individual facing a guardianship petition has the right to an attorney and in some states, that attorney must advocate for the best interest of the person, which may be to have more independence.

A case involving a young woman with Down’s Syndrome named Jenny Hatch in 2013 led to changes in guardianship proceedings. Jenny was a high school graduate, worked at a thrift shop and volunteered in local political campaigns. At her parent’s request, a court put her into temporary guardianship and placed her in a group home, where her cell phone and laptop were taken away. She was not permitted to socialize with friends or go to work. After a year of litigation, she won the right to make her own decisions through Supported Decision-Making, a process in which a team of allies help the disabled to make key decisions about their life. Jenny became a national hero for the rights of the disabled and speaks publicly about her experience. A number of states now have Supported Decision-Making laws to give the disabled freedom, while providing them with a network of support.

There is a lot of information to consider as a parent facing the prospect of an ASD child becoming a legal adult. Each person has his or her own strengths and challenges. Review the laws of your state to consider what options there may be, in addition to guardianship.

If you would like to learn more about adult guardianship and other issues related to autism, please read our previous posts.

Reference: Autism Key.com (July 28, 2020) “Guardianship And Autism: A Crossroads In Life”

Category: Autism

Qualified Disability Trust can reduce Tax Burden

Adult Guardianship and Autistic Children

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