'Ensuring the Future of Your Child with Special Needs'

We have discussed various aspects of future planning for our children and other family member with special needs and I know from my presentations that this is a HUGE issue for families around the Province. As well it should be.

As luck would have it, I came across a great video the a few weeks ago, entitled "Ensuring the Future of Your Child with Special Needs". Upfront warning: the video is lengthy BUT I highly recommend watching the whole thing - it will be well worth your time.

Although American, I would say it is at least 80% straight on accurate for families here in Nova Scotia. And, best of all, the presenters (there are three of them) all have children with special needs, in addition to the professional expertise (a lawyer and a financial planner) they bring to the table. This means that they often speak as parents and when they do - trust me, you WILL relate.

"Unfortunately, doing nothing is an action of its own because eventually the future 

becomes the present ... If we have not planned for that eventuality, it will come 

either way and we will have less time to do something meaningful about it."

~ Keith Coldwell, Failure to Plan

Given that the video is quite lengthy, I though it might be useful to break it down into a Table of Contents, if you will. So here goes:

1. Introduction
2. Set Up
3. Greatest Hindrance to Parents Getting Started
4. First Steps (14:15)
5. Five Steps to Plan:

• Letter of Intent 
• Special Needs Trust
• Advance Directives 
• Guardianship 

     6.  The Importance of Communication

If you are a regular reader of the blawg, you will likely be familiar with some of these terms but perhaps not all.

A Gift ... From Ken Pope

I have been meaning to pass this on for a little while now - a Gift that dropped in my inbox last week.  And it seemed the perfect Gift to REGIFT!

So here you go ... Happy (Belated) New Year!

A New Year's  Resolution Booster Jan 15th - Jan 31st  2014

I know how difficult resolutions can be. I know we  say we will take the time to get our affairs in order... we resolve to...and time slips away. I would like to help you with that. Here is a $200 gift. Please take  this gift, take some time and schedule  an appointment.  Let's resolve to finding solutions and creating Peace of Mind All the Best for the New Year. Ken Pope $200 Towards Peace of Mind!       Schedule Appointment Now! For anyone who's not familiar with Mr. Pope ... let's just say you should be. You might recall that I've spoken about him on numerous occasions over the years. Please note that even though Mr. Pope is located in Ontario, he is licensed to practice across the country.

Kenneth C. Pope, Barrister and
Solicitor, started his practice in 1980,
in Ottawa, Ontario and travels nation
 wide to meet with clients and present 
seminars on Disabilities and Estate
Planning issues.

Ken is a Henson Trust specialist, 
helping provide peace of mind for 
families with a family member with 
disabilities or special needs.                

Financial and Estate Planning Tool

We've talked at length, on various occasions, about the challenges involved in planning for your child's future security, be it personal or financial.

In that vein, although no longer exactly *new*, I've been meaning to share NBACL's financial and estate planning resource.

From Ken Pike, NBACL Director of Social Policy:

There are many issue to consider when making financial and estate plans for your family member with a disability. NBACL's new online resource, Financial and Estate Planning for a Family Member with a Disability, provides information on a number of important topics as well as links to other resources that may be useful. The on-line module has information about

• The key elements of good financial planning;
• The tax system, including credits, benefits and deductions relevant to people with disabilities and their families;
• Registered Disability Savings Plans;
• Estate planning considerations and options for a family member with a disability;
• Establishing a financial trust for a loved one with a disability;
• The impact of provincial social assistance laws and rules on financial and estate planning [See Below]; and
• Planning for a home for a family member with a disability.

The module also contains a series of family financial and estate planning scenarios that offer some guidance from a qualified financial planner and a lawyer that address the situations presented.

As Ken notes, although the law in this area is often changing, NBACL has committed itself to keeping the information current.

Which is where the one BIG CAVEAT comes in - the site is based on New Brunswick law, not Nova Scotia law.

Although, fortunately, that is not quite as big of a problem as you might first think as, in many respects, the law is similar in both provinces around these issues. However, one area where the law does substantially differ between the provinces is how income* and assets* are treated with regard to social assistance payments.

Speaking of which, it's essential to remember that in Nova Scotia any trust you create for a loved one with a disability must be a so-called "Henson Trust" (referred to in the NB Resource as an  absolute discretionary trust) in order to ensure that social assistance payments are not affected.

* NOTE: Although you can find the Employment Support and Income Assistance policy manual here, I would strongly suggest that you always double check what you read in any policy document to make sure it complies with the regulations made under the applicable Act.