03-28-2005, 04:10 PM
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/co..._0328.html
Quote:
Special needs, special advice for parents of disabled children
By Stephanie Horvath
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 28, 2005
JUPITER — For most parents, saving for their child's college education is challenging. Those with a disabled child face an even more daunting financial task: figuring out how to provide for their child long after they die.
It's a topic that can be full of pitfalls, and few attorneys or financial planners specialize in it. But a new local nonprofit, Prosperity Life Planning Inc., is offering parents guidance.
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The nonprofit was started last spring by Karen Greenberg, a certified financial planner in Delray Beach. Through it Greenberg gives free lectures on estate planning and tax strategies for parents with disabled children. She also works with individual families for a reduced rate.
One of Greenberg's recent lectures in Jupiter drew Gale, whose 14-year-old son, Zack, is autistic. The Palm Beach Gardens accountant has taken control of her son's education by home-schooling him. But she didn't take a similar attitude toward his financial future until three years ago, when she heard someone at a seminar talk about estate planning.
"We are so busy on a daily basis trying to have employment, have a roof over our heads and take care of our child's special needs," she said. "There's not enough time."
Gale, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her son's privacy, said she found few attorneys with expertise in planning for disabled children. She did most of the research herself and doesn't think she knows enough to take action.
Greenberg said most parents are like Gale.
"Even if they've gotten started they aren't fully comfortable with what they've done, and they don't know exactly where they're going with it," she said. "The attorneys don't get into that. They need somebody else to guide them."
Planning for disabled children isn't as simple as socking away money and leaving it to them in a will.
If children have too many assets in their name they can become ineligible for government assistance, including Medicaid and Social Security, that pays for food, clothing and shelter. But government money alone won't cover other needs, like special therapy, Christmas presents and vacations.
"If the child only has state funds to care for him, especially in Florida, he won't have someone looking out for his best well-being," said Betsy Shendell, co-president of the West Palm Beach chapter of the Autism Society of America.
Greenberg knows this Catch-22 firsthand. She began looking for a solution soon after her son, Ricky, was diagnosed with autism almost 16 years ago, when the family lived on New York's Long Island. One attorney told her to simply leave all her assets to her daughter, Jaime, who isn't disabled. The daughter could then take care of Ricky.
"I didn't like that answer," Greenberg said. "I said, 'What if something parts her from that money?' I decided to look into the issue on my own."
She did and found a plan that worked: a supplemental-needs trust fund that would not be counted as her child's asset. Parents act as trustees and appoint a trustee to administer the fund after they die.
It allowed her to pay for some of Ricky's special treatments and also save money for later. Plus, grandparents and others could write checks to the trust if they wanted to help out.
Word spread about Greenberg's plan through her local autism society, and parents started asking her for help. So she formed her first nonprofit in 1993 on Long Island. Before she moved to Florida in 2001, following a divorce, she was getting calls every week from parents seeking estate-planning guidance.
She decided to resurrect Prosperity Life Planning in Delray Beach last spring after she got involved with the local autism society. She and her new husband, who is also a financial planner, run the firm together.
Shendell, the chapter co-president, said the autism society often gets calls from parents with questions about estate planning, and they have a handful of people they refer them to.
On a recent evening at Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus, Greenberg gave a talk about tax strategies to a small group of local mothers with disabled children. The discussion, sponsored by the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, eventually turned to estate planning.
Greenberg walked the women through financial options, including setting up a trust and buying a second-to-die life insurance policy that would go to the trust. The policy covers the lives of both parents and is paid out when the second parent dies. She also encouraged the mothers to write a letter of intent — a biography of their child telling their future caregiver everything they need to know.
Robert Kares, a certified financial planner in Boynton Beach, said the second-to-die life insurance policy and the supplemental-needs trust are good ideas that can work well for families. But because the trust can't be accessed by the child, Kares said parents should carefully select trustees.
"It gives tremendous power to the trustee," Kares said. "The trustee has to be someone very, very trustworthy. They have the power to give or not give what they see fit."
Greenberg meets with families individually, helping them write the letter of intent, understand how the trust fund works and communicate with their lawyer.
Gale said she planned to consult Greenberg before she set up her son's special-needs trust. She wants Zack to have the extra money to pay for clothes and vacations, and maybe one day a house or a wedding.
"I need the guidance because I don't want to spend five years learning what they know," she said. "This lady with a special-needs child of her own, she knows. She's living what we're living."
By Stephanie Horvath
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 28, 2005
JUPITER — For most parents, saving for their child's college education is challenging. Those with a disabled child face an even more daunting financial task: figuring out how to provide for their child long after they die.
It's a topic that can be full of pitfalls, and few attorneys or financial planners specialize in it. But a new local nonprofit, Prosperity Life Planning Inc., is offering parents guidance.
More Business News
• Latest news
• Columnists
• Local stocks
• Market tools
• Mortgage rates
• Latest gas prices
The nonprofit was started last spring by Karen Greenberg, a certified financial planner in Delray Beach. Through it Greenberg gives free lectures on estate planning and tax strategies for parents with disabled children. She also works with individual families for a reduced rate.
One of Greenberg's recent lectures in Jupiter drew Gale, whose 14-year-old son, Zack, is autistic. The Palm Beach Gardens accountant has taken control of her son's education by home-schooling him. But she didn't take a similar attitude toward his financial future until three years ago, when she heard someone at a seminar talk about estate planning.
"We are so busy on a daily basis trying to have employment, have a roof over our heads and take care of our child's special needs," she said. "There's not enough time."
Gale, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her son's privacy, said she found few attorneys with expertise in planning for disabled children. She did most of the research herself and doesn't think she knows enough to take action.
Greenberg said most parents are like Gale.
"Even if they've gotten started they aren't fully comfortable with what they've done, and they don't know exactly where they're going with it," she said. "The attorneys don't get into that. They need somebody else to guide them."
Planning for disabled children isn't as simple as socking away money and leaving it to them in a will.
If children have too many assets in their name they can become ineligible for government assistance, including Medicaid and Social Security, that pays for food, clothing and shelter. But government money alone won't cover other needs, like special therapy, Christmas presents and vacations.
"If the child only has state funds to care for him, especially in Florida, he won't have someone looking out for his best well-being," said Betsy Shendell, co-president of the West Palm Beach chapter of the Autism Society of America.
Greenberg knows this Catch-22 firsthand. She began looking for a solution soon after her son, Ricky, was diagnosed with autism almost 16 years ago, when the family lived on New York's Long Island. One attorney told her to simply leave all her assets to her daughter, Jaime, who isn't disabled. The daughter could then take care of Ricky.
"I didn't like that answer," Greenberg said. "I said, 'What if something parts her from that money?' I decided to look into the issue on my own."
She did and found a plan that worked: a supplemental-needs trust fund that would not be counted as her child's asset. Parents act as trustees and appoint a trustee to administer the fund after they die.
It allowed her to pay for some of Ricky's special treatments and also save money for later. Plus, grandparents and others could write checks to the trust if they wanted to help out.
Word spread about Greenberg's plan through her local autism society, and parents started asking her for help. So she formed her first nonprofit in 1993 on Long Island. Before she moved to Florida in 2001, following a divorce, she was getting calls every week from parents seeking estate-planning guidance.
She decided to resurrect Prosperity Life Planning in Delray Beach last spring after she got involved with the local autism society. She and her new husband, who is also a financial planner, run the firm together.
Shendell, the chapter co-president, said the autism society often gets calls from parents with questions about estate planning, and they have a handful of people they refer them to.
On a recent evening at Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus, Greenberg gave a talk about tax strategies to a small group of local mothers with disabled children. The discussion, sponsored by the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, eventually turned to estate planning.
Greenberg walked the women through financial options, including setting up a trust and buying a second-to-die life insurance policy that would go to the trust. The policy covers the lives of both parents and is paid out when the second parent dies. She also encouraged the mothers to write a letter of intent — a biography of their child telling their future caregiver everything they need to know.
Robert Kares, a certified financial planner in Boynton Beach, said the second-to-die life insurance policy and the supplemental-needs trust are good ideas that can work well for families. But because the trust can't be accessed by the child, Kares said parents should carefully select trustees.
"It gives tremendous power to the trustee," Kares said. "The trustee has to be someone very, very trustworthy. They have the power to give or not give what they see fit."
Greenberg meets with families individually, helping them write the letter of intent, understand how the trust fund works and communicate with their lawyer.
Gale said she planned to consult Greenberg before she set up her son's special-needs trust. She wants Zack to have the extra money to pay for clothes and vacations, and maybe one day a house or a wedding.
"I need the guidance because I don't want to spend five years learning what they know," she said. "This lady with a special-needs child of her own, she knows. She's living what we're living."