Special Needs
Nora Judith 7/2/06 Miles Chauncey 4/20/09 born with Trisomy 21 - Down syndrome
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Down syndrome moms, come in
First, hello and hope everyone is doing well!
Random question, but have you drawn up a will and/or created a trust for your DC yet? DH and I need to create a will anyway, but having Miles has only intensified that feeling in both of us.
If you have, where did you start? What did you include re: your DC with Down's?? I have no idea where to begin on this....TIA!
Nora Judith 7/2/06 Miles Chauncey 4/20/09 born with Trisomy 21 - Down syndrome
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Re: Down syndrome moms, come in
BFP 3/9/12 Natural M/C 4/11/12
I'm not a down syndrome mom, but i am butting in - A local law office goes through some state program around here and offers sessions twice a year about how to set up a special needs trust and prepare your will. They do it all in one afternoon session for free for special needs parents.
I didn't get to make the spring one, but I'm hoping to go to the one in the fall. Maybe you have something similar around you somewhere. We found out about it through EI. HTH!
No DS baby here, but I thought you might be interested in my uncle's situation.
My uncle is mentally retarded (sorry- I don't know what else to call it- that is what they called it at the time and what my family has always reffered to- if anyone has a better term let me know). He functions at about the level of a 3 year old so obviously there is no chance of him ever living alone, etc.
Anyway, As he got older, he became more and more difficult for my frail g'ma to physically handle. He at least doubled her in weight, yk? So he began living at a group home but my g'ma still had him at home most of the time. As g'ma got older he slowly transitioned to living mostly at the group home and just visiting g'ma. The group home was a house that had 4 SN adults in it, and a caregiver at all times. So it was not institutionalized at all.
When my g'ma died, she willed her house to the group home org. with the requirement that it be turned into a group home, and my uncle live there. So now my uncle lives in the home he grew up in with 3 other SN adults. It is a really good set-up for him.
My g'ma also set up a trust that a family member is in charge of. Anyone in the family who wants to go take my uncle somewhere (like to a baseball game or on a weekend trip or whatever) can use money rom the trust to do that.
Hopefully your kids won't be as severely disabled as my uncle is, but maybe this will help a little.
We haven't done one yet either, but as pp said there are special needs trusts. I actually learned about from my boss, who has a SN daughter. There are seminars out there. I know a local school here has them and if you contact a lawyer they should be able to help as well. There are lawyers specialized in SNT. Here is some info on them: https://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/estate.dis.all.3.3.html
Hope you guys are doing well. Did I read you are going back to work soon? Love the new pictures.
Hey there -- We are planning to - just haven't done it yet. Our local early invention agency gave us info and the names of lawyers who specialize in these kinds of trusts.
Let me know what you find out!
GL
Crista