All parents worry about their children’s future, but when your child has disabilities or special health care needs, it is normal to have additional concerns like If the child can not work, how to make sure expenses are covered, etc. Here are a few steps to planning your child’s financial future and well-being.

1. Create a Special Needs Trust

A special needs trust is important for your child’s long-term financial plan. It is where you can put money that you save, that others give to your child as gifts, and that you receive from any insurance settlements.

2. Write a Will

A will specifies what needs to do with your assets after your death. By making a will, you assure that your assets are left to the special needs trust and not for your child. Without a will, a probate court judge could name your child as a beneficiary, which could make your child ineligible for government benefits. A will is also where you can specify a guardian name who will take care of your child.

3. Name a Guardian

A guardian is a person who will care for your child if you die before your child reaches adulthood. In choosing this person, consider how much time you now spend tending to your child’s needs. Who can handle that type of commitment? Who has bonded with your child? Who has the patience, understanding, and other personality traits necessary to deal with the day-to-day responsibilities of raising your child?

4. Name a Trustee

A trustee is a person who will be responsible for managing the special needs trust after your death. It can be a family member, a friend, an independent professional trustee, or even a bank or lawyer. The trustee ensures that the money in the trust is spent only on your child and services that you’ve specified or that are appropriate to your child’s needs. The trustee also supervises how the money in the trust gets invested. The person caring for your son or daughter (the guardian) cannot spend any money with the trust without the trustee’s approval.

 A word of caution on trustees and guardians: They often are not the same person, and some financial advisors recommend that they never be the same person. Keep both roles separate to ensure a “checks and balances” system for your child’s future needs.

5. Build Your Savings & Health insurance

Parents of children with disabilities should learn that just because a child needs a particular treatment or therapy doesn’t mean that your government system will offer it or insurance will cover it. And that is why personal savings and having a enough health fund/insurance become so important. Start putting aside a fixed sum each month — to cover health related expenses and some other extra expenses.

6. Write a Letter of Intent

Preparing for your child’s financial future is an important task. But it is equally necessary to make sure that your child’s everyday needs will be met if anything happens to you. That’s where a Letter of Intent comes in. Is your child’s daily routine important? Then write it down and be as detailed as possible. The same goes for your child’s daily, weekly, and monthly schedules. Also, include your child’s likes and dislikes and helpful resources in the community.

Create a list of contacts like your child’s physicians, therapists, and other medical support details as well as current medicines and their dosages and schedules.

The letter of Intent is not a formal legal document therefore you can draft it yourself. Keep a copy wherever you have copies of your will. And make sure that your child’s appointed guardian has a copy too.

7. Apply for Guardianship or Power of Attorney

 Generally, when children turn 18, they’re legal adults, which gives them the right to make medical and financial decisions. If your child is unable to make such decisions, consider assuming legal guardianship. It lets you maintain the same supervision and decision-making abilities you had when your child was younger.

If your child can make some decisions but still needs your guidance, consider power of attorney for financial, legal, and health care affairs.