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Library Categories > Recommended Reading > Guides available to help plan care for disabled child

 
Library Item Name:

Guides available to help plan care for disabled child 		   
Summary Statement:

Understandably, for many families dealing with the day-to-day struggles of caring for a disabled child ''the last thing in their minds is planning for the future,'' said Joanne Gruszkos, founder of the MassMutual program.
But it is important for parents to take the right steps to make sure their child is cared for after they die. That's particularly the case with autistic children: People with autism tend to have a longer than normal life expectancy, Gruszkos said, and therefore will need care longer.
Easter Seals, which offers services to people with disabilities and their families, recommends that, in addition to setting up a special-needs trust, parents of disabled children draft a ''letter of intent.'' This letter, while not legally binding, provides a guide for the child's caregivers or the courts on how the parents would like the child to live after they die.
''With Open Arms,'' an informative 72-page guide by Easter Seals and the National Endowment for Financial Education, includes a worksheet to help parents begin writing such a letter. A free downloadable version of the guide is available from the Easter Seals Web site, www.easter-seals.org (you must first sign up as a registered user of the site). A printed copy can be ordered by sending a $5 check for shipping and handling, payable to Easter Seals, to With Open Arms/Easter Seals, 230 W. Monroe, Suite 1800, Chicago, IL 60606.
Tags:

special needs trust fund,  letter of intent,  wills
Submission Date:

08/18/2008by: shannonj
Current rating:


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