The "Special Needs" Planning Group

The "Special Needs" Plan

Over the years, we at the "Special Needs" Planning Group have worked with countless families, lawyers and planning professionals. This interaction has allowed us to develop an effective program to provide for the well being of people with disabilities. We call this program the "Special Needs" Plan. It has evolved to the point where it addresses the needs and concerns of parents of people with disabilities as well as the people themselves. The following segment of the web site will share that program with you.

The "Special Needs" Plan Description

The basic premise of the "Special Needs" Plan is to provide our sons or daughters with a disability with the "Quality of Life" that they deserve even after we are gone. At the same time we wish to protect their entitlement to the Ontario Disability Support Program and other Government programs. These programs are based on the assumption that our children have very limited assets or income. In order to protect these entitlements, we must be certain that any planning steps that we take do not infringe on the government regulations. At the same time, it is imperative that our children can not outlive the benefits that they derive from our planning and as parents, we want to have Guarantees in place that will ensure that our wishes are carried out after we are no longer here to guide the process. Finally, we must be aware of the impact of the Succession Law Reform Act which requires that parents of financially dependant children provide for those children after they are gone. We can accomplish all of the above mentioned desires through the use of a variety of techniques and legal instruments such as the Absolute Discretionary Trust (also referred as the Henson Trust), our Will, Powers of Attorney and others. To accomplish the above mentioned objectives, The "Special Needs" Planning Group has developed an enhanced program that will make use of these planning techniques and legal instruments to create and maintain a "Quality Lifestyle" for our children with disabilities. The first part of the planning process is to discuss your existing plans with a "Special Needs" Planing Group Consultant. At this stage, areas that could be problematic are examined and sorted out. For example, we make certain that existing insurance policies on the lives of the parents don't have the child with a disability as the beneficiary. We ensure that your son or daughter doesn't have excessive cash in their own name. We also examine existing Wills, Powers of Attorney, RRSP Beneficiaries, Bank Accounts, Savings Bonds, and other detailed financial issues. After we modify or correct these issues we create the "Special Needs" Plan beginning with the Insurance or Investment Program.

The following chart shows how our plan operates. Usually it is funded with a low cost, Permanent Life Insurance Policy insuring the parents. When they die, the proceeds of the policy are directed to the Trustees of the Henson Trust. They invest the money either in a predetermined fashion or at their discretion within the guidelines of the Trustee Act and then turn their full attention to spending the money to enhance the quality of life of the person with a disability. The "Special Needs" Planning Group provides training and support to the Trustees throughout the process and this combined with the person's Life Plan serves to enhance his quality of life and it simplifies the role of the Trustee. The end result is that the person with a disability receives the lifestyle that he or she deserves, the trustees receive the support they need and the parents receive the Peace of Mind that they have been searching for.

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What Does a "Special Needs" Plan Contain

Every family is unique. Because of this, there are no two "Special Needs" Plans that are exactly alike so to describe a "typical" plan is difficult. However, there are common items which are usually found in plans that are created in conjunction with The "Special Needs" Planning Group. Typically, these plans will contain the following items:

1) Life Plan: As part of the planning process we share a Life Planning Guide with our clients. This guide is a serries of approximately 100 questions which are designed to take information from our memories and to put it on paper. When the time comes, this document then becomes a guide for the trustees and caregivers of our sons or daughters with disabilities. It reveals a great deal of information about our children that may otherwise be gone forever. It also reveals our thoughts on what we would like to see for our children's lives after we are gone. Although we can't dictate what the trustees of our children's trust must do, we can give them a useful guide to the types of things we want for our sons and daughters.

2) Funding Mechanisms: Plans that are designed to provide for the lifestyle of our children after we are gone require funding to make them work. There are a number of funding methods like the use of our Investments, Life Insurance Policies, our Estates and often a combination of all three. Whatever method chosen, there needs to be a clearly defined and documented process of directing those funds to the appropriate Trust Accounts.

3) Last Will and Testament: The Will is a crucial part of the "Special Needs" Plan. It spells out how you want your estate to be distributed after your death, and usually it establishes the Henson Trust which will be the recipient of funding to be used to enhance the life of your son or daughter with a disability. In addition, the "Special Needs" Plan generally contains specific instructions to your trustees with regard to the investment of the funds being directed to the Henson Trust after your death.

4) Henson Trust: Almost all of the "Special Needs" Plans that are created will contain a Henson Trust. This is the vehicle which allows us to leave money for the benefit of our children with disabilities without preventing them from participating in the Ontario Disability Support Program.

5) Powers of Attorney: This is an important part of any planning for the future. It is not exclusive to "Special Needs" Plans but should be created by all families as we age.

6) Planning Manual and Guides: The "Special Needs" Planning Group has developed a serries of planning manuals and guide books. These documents are invaluable to families who enter into the maze of planning for people with disabilities since they consolidate the information, thoughts, instructions and documents that are required into one location with an easy to follow, step by step process.

7) Trustee Support: The "Special Needs" Planning Group provides support to the Trustees of the Henson Trust after the death of the parents. Trustees need to know how to operate the trust effectively, keep records, spend money within the directives of the Ontario Disability Support Program, and generally how to provide a decent quality of life to the person with a disability. The "Special Needs" Planning Group will provide support in all of these areas to be sure that the Trustees are not overwhelmed by the task.

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Benefits of The "Special Needs" Plan

The unique design of the "Special Needs" Plan has many benefits over other less well thought out plans. They are:

a) The proceeds of the insurance components of the plan are not subject to probate fees, are paid tax free and are available almost immediately after the death of the parents.

b) The funding of the quality of life is guaranteed.

c) The plan protects entitlement to ODSP benefits.

d) Your wishes are passed down to the trustee and caregivers.

e) The trustee receives support throughout the entire process.

f) The role of the trustee is simplified.

g) There is significant investment flexibility available to the trustee.

h) Peace of Mind is provided to the parents, the person with the disability and to the trustee of the Henson Trust.