Consider a Letter of Intent For Valentine’s Day
With Valentine’s Day arriving soon, one loving gift that parents could give their children is a Letter of Intent with their estate plans. If life insurance is important so are your hopes and dreams for your child’s future. Estate plans that consider children, especially disabled children raise questions that the average person might not encounter but even minor children can benefit. Who will take care of my son if I die or become disabled? Where will she live and with whom? Who understands her needs? What will he do without me? Are there government programs that can fill the gap? Morgan Law Group can help you answer such queries.
Parents of minor children need to consider who should serve as guardian if they are both gone. Parents of severely disabled adult children know the questions do not end with adulthood.
When I first heard of letters of intent, the idea was so simple and so obvious that I wondered why we had not considered it earlier. It can be applied to plan for disabled adult children but also for minor children who are not disabled and even frail and elderly parents who are beneficiaries in a Will which is made possible with the help of professional senior placement who takes care of elders all the time.
A Letter of Intent is, in its simplest form, a statement or letter from someone writing a Will or a Trust indicating how he or she wants the funds to be spent and how she wants her beneficiary to be cared for. It can be as limited or as expansive as you want.
Wills and Trusts usually do not provide enough information for your Executor or Trustee to know how to deal with disabled or minor or frail and elderly beneficiaries.
Here are some examples.
Suppose you are the parent of a severely disabled child and want to furnish contact information for all the agencies you deal with to receive services. You can put this in writing first in simple form and then tell your attorney you have such a document when planning your Will and estate so it is included in your estate packet. You could state what kind of living arrangements you want your child to have – whether to buy a home in his name, rent or encourage a group living arrangement. You can name trusted advisors. You can explain personal information giving the preferences of your child in hobbies, music, entertainment and so on. You could use a Letter of Intent to tell your Trustee under a supplemental needs trust that you encourage funds for travel and socialization.
If the trust is a supplemental needs trust then the Letter of Intent needs to contain language that the Trustee has absolute discretion and that the funds are to supplement and not replace government benefits but a carefully worded Letter of Intent can provide examples without requiring certain uses.
Attached to a Letter of Intent could be your child’s Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) from school, medical background, and observations on your beneficiary’s needs. You can include information on doctors, medications, medical records and surgeries, the person’s wishes and fears, routines and religious preferences. I even know of one that included preferred stuffed animals and sleeping patterns.
A Letter of Intent tells the Executor and Trustee and, if there is a Guardian, then the Guardian, how the funds should be used and, even beyond money, what goals and needs are involved.
Here are some of the questions you might consider.
- Where Should She Live. Would she continue to live in the same house or somewhere else? If somewhere else, where? If in the same house, how should bills be paid? Will caretakers be needed?
- How Does He Socialize. Does your elderly and disabled parent keep to himself or would he welcome company. How much? Are there family members, friends or neighbors who would help? Must he move?
- Who Are Your Son’s Friends and Support System.
- What Benefits Does He Receive and What Benefits Might He Qualify for After Your Death. Do checks coming from Social Security originate with Social Security Disability based on earnings or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) which is a needs based (welfare) program. Is your child or parent on Medicaid? Social Security benefits may be available to survivors after your death, including both parents and children, in many different situations based on a decedent’s earnings record. You should know what they are.
Keeping all of this in mind is a good start. Get expert advice if you need help.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.