One more thing on Letters of Intent :)

[Guest guest]

We hear all the time about the need to have a will and special needs

trust established for our loved ones with DDs to protect their

future assets from pay-down requirements of any government

assistance they may qualify for later in life. These are important,

to be sure, and you'll want to choose an estate planning attorney

carefully to be sure they are familiar with the ever-changing rules

and regs related to planning for people with special needs.

What's equally important, though, in my humble view, is we 'parents'

taking the time to complete a Letter of Intent, which is a

nonbinding document which you then share with your attorney (who

puts it with your Will and Trusts)as well as other important people

in your child's life. It's something that only we can do.

Here's the way they were explained to me: You know how, when we're

leaving our child with a babysitter for the first time, the kinds of

instructions we give the babysitter about our child -- rules,

routines, likes/dislikes, etc? Just for one evening? Well, imagine

you're leaving your child for a LIFETIME...what info would you want

his/her future caregivers to know about? To help make

the 'transition' or life changes as smooth as possible for your

child AND to help ensure that your hopes, values and priorities for

your child are carried out?

I don't know about the rest of you, but even if my husband survives

me, he would need this information! Don't get me wrong, he's a

great dad, but I tend to carry most of 's pertinent information

around in my head and unless I wrote it down he would have no idea

on a lot of this stuff! So it was important for us.

One thing I will try to do differently this next time I update

's document is to type it on the computer and SAVE AS A WORD

DOCUMENT...that way, I can (in theory, at least) make updates as

they happen rather than have to reinvent the wheel each time

something changes. But handwritten is fine, too, of course.

Just my two cents since several people have told me recently they

didn't know about these Letters of Intent...thanks to Ellen,

Rubin and others for sharing so much good information on the topic

with us!

[Guest guest]

This is a great explanation, Laurie.

I completed a letter of intent on my old computer and then it crashed. So, I would add, put the information on a disk, or at the very least, retain a printed copy. The older we get, the more imperative this becomes.

I did notice that as I saved the forms on to my computer there was a stipulation that they could not be saved in an altered form, so some of these forms can be filled out as is on your computer but there may be some challenges saving it once completed.

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeldegskb@...

One more thing on Letters of Intent

We hear all the time about the need to have a will and special needs trust established for our loved ones with DDs to protect their future assets from pay-down requirements of any government assistance they may qualify for later in life. These are important, to be sure, and you'll want to choose an estate planning attorney carefully to be sure they are familiar with the ever-changing rules and regs related to planning for people with special needs. What's equally important, though, in my humble view, is we 'parents' taking the time to complete a Letter of Intent, which is a nonbinding document which you then share with your attorney (who puts it with your Will and Trusts)as well as other important people in your child's life. It's something that only we can do.Here's the way they were explained to me: You know how, when we're leaving our child with a babysitter for the first time, the kinds of instructions we give the babysitter about our child -- rules, routines, likes/dislikes, etc? Just for one evening? Well, imagine you're leaving your child for a LIFETIME...what info would you want his/her future caregivers to know about? To help make the 'transition' or life changes as smooth as possible for your child AND to help ensure that your hopes, values and priorities for your child are carried out? I don't know about the rest of you, but even if my husband survives me, he would need this information! Don't get me wrong, he's a great dad, but I tend to carry most of 's pertinent information around in my head and unless I wrote it down he would have no idea on a lot of this stuff! So it was important for us. One thing I will try to do differently this next time I update 's document is to type it on the computer and SAVE AS A WORD DOCUMENT...that way, I can (in theory, at least) make updates as they happen rather than have to reinvent the wheel each time something changes. But handwritten is fine, too, of course. Just my two cents since several people have told me recently they didn't know about these Letters of Intent...thanks to Ellen, Rubin and others for sharing so much good information on the topic with us!