SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING

Develop a plan with early intervention to get services - speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)...

Put together an estate plan that names someone as a guardian for your children in case you and/or your spouse prematurely pass away.

It might also make sense to have a special needs trust.

Make sure that you have the right amount of life insurance in place in the event something happens to you.

Develop a plan with your school district to get the services you think your child needs.

Consider applying for Medicaid (MassHealth) for your child to cover additional medical expenses/therapies.

Create or review your estate plan. Sometimes the people you chose to play critical roles (guardians, trustees, executor ...) in your plan no longer make sense.

Put together a detailed road map about your child and what you want for them (Letter of Intent).

Review your overall financial plan. With the addition of unexpected expenses, the future you envisioned might look differently.

Think about alternative ways you can save for your child's current and future needs.

Review your life insurance plan. Depending on your child's long term needs you might want to consider having permanent life insurance.

Request a pre-IEP Transition Planning meeting and start thinking about post-secondary school goals for your child.

Ask the school to make a 688 referral in order to start the process of getting eligible for various government services.

Your vision of their future might be clearer and will necessitate some changes to your financial plan. You should consider that you might have to provide some level of financial support for your entire life.

Review or update your estate plan and make sure you have considered a special needs trust.

Review your overall financial plan. With the addition of unexpected expenses, the future you envisioned might look differently.

Review your life insurance since this might be a good funding source for your special needs trust.

Put together a detailed road map about your child and what you want for them (Letter of Intent).

Start building a team of people to help you. We call this a Circle of Support. It might include family, friends, teachers, social workers. In the beginning it might be just one other person but the idea is to grow this over time.

Prior to turning 18 you need to consider if guardianship is right for your family.

You should consider applying for supplemental security income (SSI) and learn about eligibility.

Ask the school to make a 688 referral in order to start the process of getting eligible for various government services.

Start thinking about what type of housing your child will be living in the future and apply for a section 8 voucher to help with funding. It could take many years to get it so do it now!

Review or update your estate plan and make sure you have considered a special needs trust.

Review your life insurance since this might be a good funding source for your special needs trust.

Put together a detailed road map about your child and what you want for them (Letter of Intent).

Prior to turning 22, you want to meet with various state agencies who will be providing adult services to your child.

Develop a housing strategy. They might not be moving out anytime soon but it's never too soon or too late to plan and apply for a Section 8 voucher.

Review or update your estate plan and make sure you have considered a special needs trust.

Review your life insurance since this might be a good funding source for your special needs trust.

Put together a detailed road map about your child and what you want for them (Letter of Intent).

Think about alternative ways you can save for your child's current and future needs.