Helping Families With Special Needs
Do you have someone in your family with special needs who can’t manage their personal or financial needs? Do you want to maximize their quality of life while protecting their assets?
Nearly every family has someone with special needs. In your family, maybe it’s a minor or adult child with autism or another mental or physical disability. Maybe it’s an elderly parent with dementia or other disability, or a niece or nephew who can’t care for themselves.
Caring for family members with special needs can be stressful and challenging. It can stretch a family’s physical, emotional and financial capabilities to the maximum. Family members with special needs need special help: help in caring for their personal needs, help in making personal and financial decisions, and help in managing their assets.
I am attorney David Montgomery, and I understand your situation. I have several extended family members who have special needs.
An Experienced Special Needs Attorney
I opened the Family Law Practice of David A. Montgomery, in Knoxville, Tennessee, because I am passionate about protecting and preserving families. One of the most important areas of my practice is assisting families and individuals who are seeking to protect the health and financial welfare of loved ones who are unable to care for themselves.
In working with families with someone with special needs, my number one goal is to maximize the person’s quality of life while protecting their assets. To achieve this goal requires a detailed knowledge of both state and federal government benefit programs for disabled persons, Tennessee’s laws on trusts and estates, and state and county requirements for conservatorships and guardianships.
I have worked hard to obtain this knowledge, and I continue to work hard to keep up with the constant changes in these laws and requirements. I have also shared that knowledge by making presentations to different groups of parents of special needs children.
In planning for a family member with special needs, under current state and federal law, there are many different options to consider, including:
- Special needs trusts (first-party and third-party)
- Pooled income trusts
- ABLE accounts
- Powers of attorney (financial and health care)
- Conservatorships of adults
- Guardianships of minors
- Estate planning through wills and revocable living trusts
- Representative payee status for government benefits
If you hire me as your special needs lawyer, I will take the time necessary to work with you to arrive at the best plan for your special needs family member.
Contact Information
If you would like to discuss the different options available to you in caring for your special needs family member, including applying for a conservatorship, call my Knoxville office at 865-643-8452 or send me an email with a brief explanation of your circumstances. I will respond as quickly as possible to arrange a time to meet.
