- National Developmental Disabilities Month in March Highlights Need for Planning -
(BLOOMFIELD, CT)- February 22, 2016 - Caring for a child with special needs is time consuming and often exhausting. Getting through today is enough of a challenge without having to worry about tomorrow. But with proposed Connecticut State budget cuts to the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) totaling millions of dollars, parents need to plan for the future to ensure quality care throughout the child’s lifetime.
“The planning needs of families with special needs children differ from other families,” said Attorney Henry Weatherby, Founding Principal of Weatherby & Associates, PC in Bloomfield, CT. “Instead of saving for a rainy day or providing an inheritance, families must plan for the high costs of long-term care and make sure their child has a source of funds that they can rely on.”
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in March calls on Americans to provide the encouragement and opportunities necessary for people with developmental disabilities to reach their potential. However, taxpayer-funded programs for people with disabilities nationwide are more at risk in today’s economic environment. Medicaid, which has funded many employment and community-based residential programs, is also under fire.
Special needs planning attorneys at Weatherby & Associates, PC address the cost of the full spectrum of services needed for people with disabilities to live secure, fulfilling lives. They sort through all of the confusing options and create a plan that fits a family’s needs and resources, from utilizing Special Needs Trusts and asset protection strategies to qualify (or preserve qualification for) the child for Medicaid and other needs-based programs.
Specifically, for more than 20 years, the firm has helped families achieve the following objectives:
- Qualifying special needs individuals for Medicaid
- Protecting assets and income from medical care expenses and Medicaid reimbursement
- Ensuring the ability to pay for services the child needs that aren’t paid for by Medicaid
- Securing the best care and services possible
- Ensuring the parents’ assets will pass for the benefit of their child after the parents’ death
- Making certain the child’s future is handled according to the parents’ wishes, and not those of a court, social worker or other third party
“Our goal is to reduce the financial and emotional strain on families and eliminate parent’s frustration and uncertainty of not knowing what will happen to their child with special needs,” concludes Weatherby.
For over 20 years, the attorneys at Weatherby & Associates, PC have helped Connecticut families set goals and turn them into reality, creating a better, more secure future through estate planning and asset protection strategies as well as probate, business succession planning and estate administration. Weatherby & Associates, PC takes a close look at the unique needs of every individual, family or business to develop a truly individualized strategy that best achieves their objectives.
