Whether you have a young child or adult child with a disability or special needs, it's important for parents of special needs children to do some type of care planning ahead of time. By doing so, you can take advantage of benefits that come with advanced planning, such as avoiding Medicaid disqualification and avoiding payback provisions under Texas state laws. The Law Office of Christina Lesher assists individuals and families throughout Harris, Galveston and Fort Bend County, Texas, with their estate planning and health care needs for themselves and their loved ones.

Using Trusts to Fund Care for Disabled Children

Parents have several options for funding adequate health care for a disabled or special needs child. Special needs trust attorney Christina Lesher provides clients with the knowledge and skill to properly assess which type of trust will work best to meet their care needs:

Self-Settled or First Party Trust: This type of special needs trust must have a parent or a grandparent as the grantor. When there is no grandparent and parents cannot serve as grantors, we must look for a guardianship or court order to establish the trust, which can be very expensive. Parents of special needs children can circumvent this time-consuming and costly situation by establishing a self-settled trust before it is needed, even if they do not fund it right away. It is important to understand that a self-settled trust does contain a payback provision to the state of Texas for any public benefits received.

Third-Party Trust: Establishing and funding a third-party trust, which has no pay-back provision, is a better option for some. A third-party trust can be funded from a parent's estate, life insurance proceeds, retirement plans or gifts from other family members or friends. Parents can even direct where trust assets go after the death of a special needs child.

Contact Our Houston Law Office Today

Establishing a special needs trust and making plans with a care manager are important considerations for parents. Preplanning and sharing valuable information with other family members or friends who wish to leave something for the child can make a big difference in the lives of Texas families.

To arrange for an initial consultation with special needs trust lawyer Christina Lesher regarding the future care of your disabled children, contact the Law Office of Christina Lesher online, or call her Harris County office by phone at 713-529-5900.