We realise that children who have suffered irreversible injuries at birth have complex needs requiring costly ongoing specialist therapies, equipment, support from carers and other lifelong needs. By writing a Will, it is possible to ensure that your child’s wide-ranging needs can be met from your estate, after your days.
Regrettably, most children who have severe brain damage cannot live independently. They rely on their parents and families or require residential care. You already know only too well that it is vital to your child’s quality of life and progression to have a suitably adapted environment to meet his or her needs. Careful consideration is required to ensure that the costs associated with your child’s care, can be met after your days.
A carefully drafted will, including provision for a disabled beneficiary trust for the benefit of your child, can ensure that your child’s needs are catered for, both in the short and long term. If someone with a disability has an inheritance left directly to them, it could lead to the loss of their means-tested benefits and support package. Setting up a discretionary trust in your will, ensures that these benefits are not lost and will allow your Trustees to appropriately manage the trust for the benefit of your child and wider family, if desired, after you days. It is also possible for you to prepare a detailed Letter of Wishes to sit alongside your will, providing instructions to your Trustees as to how your estate is to be dealt with after your days.
Some trusts for disabled people or children get special tax treatment. These are known as a Disabled Beneficiary Trust. Like any type of trust, funds or assets are set aside by the person who makes the trust (known as the Settlor) and are transferred to the Trustees, who then look after the trust assets and ensure they are used for the benefit of the person or child who has the disability.
It is possible for you to set up a Disabled Beneficiary Trust in your Will (in which case the trust comes into effect on your death) or in your lifetime. Setting up the trust in your lifetime can be advantageous. This allows you to allocate some or all of your estate into the trust upon your death, depending of course on your specific family circumstances. You can also transfer assets into the trust during your lifetime. For example, you could assign your pension or a “Death in Service” benefit to the trust, which may help with you own Inheritance Tax and estate planning.
For parents, and other family members, such as siblings, the peace of mind of knowing that a child’s needs will be fully met helps to relieve some of the associated stress and pressure and allows you to focus on the here and now. Clients tell us of the relief that making a Will gives them knowing that their child will have their needs met when they are no longer around to provide any practical support.
The worry that older siblings will have to take over the role of parents in the future is also alleviated when a Will has been made, as making a Will, not only allows you to appoint independent Trustees, who will be responsible for managing the day to day running of the trust, but also provides you with the opportunity of naming a Guardian who will care and acquire parental responsibility for your children, if both parents pass away whilst any children are under the age of 18.
