0:00:01.920,0:00:07.360
All right. Well, very good, Sean. Thank you. 
And uh glad to see you all here. Um my name

0:00:07.360,0:00:11.760
is Cam Howell. I'm a regional vice president 
with Primica. I just I own and run an agency

0:00:11.760,0:00:18.720
here in Louisville area. Uh I've been doing 
been in financial services for 14 years. Um

0:00:18.720,0:00:23.920
helping all sorts of people, right? But this 
topic specifically is very near and dear to

0:00:23.920,0:00:27.840
my heart. It's actually very personal for me. 
So, I'll just tell you guys really quick just

0:00:27.840,0:00:34.560
a little bit about me and my family. So that is 
my wife Jessica. She is an engineer here in town

0:00:34.560,0:00:39.520
uh with CNI Engineering. And these are my two 
kiddos. So Satie is my 10-year-old. She's right

0:00:39.520,0:00:47.520
there with her brother. Uh and then that's Brooks. 
Brooks is seven. And so Brooks has a he's a very

0:00:47.520,0:00:52.640
rare uh very rare genetic disease. So he has 
something called spinal muscular atrophy with

0:00:52.640,0:01:00.880
respiratory distress type one. They call it SMARD 
for short. Um there's only about 100 to 200 known

0:01:00.880,0:01:08.000
cases living in the world with his his particular 
disease. Um but basically what happens is his

0:01:08.000,0:01:14.800
um all of his distal mus muscles and his diaphragm 
are paralyzed due to this genetic uh this genetic

0:01:14.800,0:01:21.600
[ __ ] so to speak. Uh but mentally he's a typical 
kid. So he's just very he just has a lot of severe

0:01:21.600,0:01:28.800
physical disabilities. Um and so you can see he's 
on a traen ventilator 24/7. Um, we would be here

0:01:28.800,0:01:35.360
for two hours if I told you the whole story about 
how we our whole journey with him. Um, but I'm

0:01:35.360,0:01:42.480
happy to say that he is a happy and healthy kid 
and he's my absolute hero. So, as as all of you

0:01:42.480,0:01:48.160
are probably think the same about your kiddos. So, 
that's a little bit about us. So, um, this topic

0:01:48.160,0:01:55.840
is very near and dear to my heart. Um, I also, um, 
like to keep it very basic. So, you know, today is

0:01:55.840,0:02:03.360
just going to be hitting some highlights of some 
some I think sort of non-negotiables essentially

0:02:03.360,0:02:08.480
when it comes to special needs financial planning. 
Um, and then Jane's going to Jane and I work

0:02:08.480,0:02:12.880
really well as a team. So, she's going to be 
able to piggyback on some things and add some

0:02:12.880,0:02:18.880
things. Um, typically people have more questions 
for Jane. Uh, and I I know some of the answers,

0:02:18.880,0:02:23.520
but I'm not a licensed attorney, so legally 
I can't answer a lot of the questions that

0:02:23.520,0:02:28.560
she's just going to answer for y'all today. But, 
um, just a couple of steps here. So, step one,

0:02:28.560,0:02:34.320
I want to talk about life insurance. Okay? 
So, just in general, life insurance is really

0:02:34.320,0:02:40.880
important for families like ours. Um, because it 
is it is our income protection, right? So I think

0:02:40.880,0:02:47.040
a lot of people historically have thought about 
life insurance as oh this something happens to me

0:02:47.040,0:02:52.480
there's money to put me in the ground and that's 
it. Um that is that is not a great way to look at

0:02:52.480,0:02:57.760
life insurance. I don't recommend looking at life 
insurance that way. I look at I recommend looking

0:02:57.760,0:03:02.880
at life insurance as a way to re to replace your 
income to your family if something were to happen

0:03:02.880,0:03:08.800
to you if you are a bread winner. So, it protects 
your greatest asset, which is your income,

0:03:08.800,0:03:14.240
like we mentioned. And I always use this example 
of magic toaster. Um, it's a really silly example,

0:03:14.240,0:03:19.200
but you all will remember it. So, I want you to 
imagine if you had a magic money toaster in your

0:03:19.200,0:03:25.600
home and it popped out $5,000 every month on the 
same day every month. Would you put insurance on

0:03:25.600,0:03:32.320
that toaster? Of course. Why? Wanted it to keep 
happening. Wanted it to keep h we need that money

0:03:32.320,0:03:37.200
to keep coming in, right? because we rely on that. 
So obviously there's no such thing as a magic

0:03:37.200,0:03:43.440
money toaster yet, right? But we are that for our 
family when it comes to being able to go to work,

0:03:43.440,0:03:49.120
bring home a paycheck, and provide for our 
kids. And so if you weren't here to provide,

0:03:49.120,0:03:55.040
your life insurance policy can provide to your 
family in your absence. And another key thing that

0:03:55.040,0:04:01.760
uh is widely misunderstood, I've been doing this 
for almost a decade and a half and I keep getting

0:04:01.760,0:04:08.240
the same questions every every I mean it feels 
like every week now at this point. People say,

0:04:08.240,0:04:14.160
"Well, Cam, I do have life insurance. I have it 
through my employer. I have it through my job."

0:04:14.160,0:04:21.680
And I help people to understand that that is a 
uh a very risky thing to count on 100%. Um for

0:04:21.680,0:04:26.400
a myriad of reasons. Number one, it's usually not 
enough. It's usually maybe one times your salary.

0:04:26.400,0:04:31.760
Maybe sometimes you can buy a little bit extra up 
to like three or four times salary. Um but usually

0:04:31.760,0:04:39.680
it is not enough. Um number two is that you 
don't own it and you don't control it, right? So,

0:04:39.680,0:04:45.120
the company could cut benefits without asking your 
permission potentially. Um, there's are there are

0:04:45.120,0:04:51.600
a lot of stipulations in those policies sometimes 
that they only pay out in certain scenarios. Um,

0:04:51.600,0:04:57.680
and there, you know, it's just sort of like this 
one-sizefits-all thing that you don't really own.

0:04:57.680,0:05:04.320
Okay. Uh the third thing and this is probably one 
of the more concerning things about employer life

0:05:04.320,0:05:10.240
insurance is that if you ever leave that job 
obviously it typically it does not go with you

0:05:10.240,0:05:15.920
if you ever left that job or got laid off and if 
you ever became disabled for whatever reason and

0:05:15.920,0:05:23.520
you could not physically go to work due to injury 
or illness um and you get placed on disability and

0:05:23.520,0:05:29.040
then you die due to said illness or injury while 
on disability, your work life insurance policy

0:05:29.040,0:05:32.720
does not pay out to your family because you 
died while you were on inactive payroll,

0:05:32.720,0:05:38.480
not on active payroll. Okay, that's a lot that's a 
big big big thing that most people don't know. Um,

0:05:38.480,0:05:42.720
and for whatever reason, HR and payroll people 
don't tell their employees that probably because

0:05:42.720,0:05:49.600
they don't know either. So, um, that's just some 
general uh, rules of thumb there and and just some

0:05:49.600,0:05:54.080
general way to look at life insurance, why it's 
so important to have that outside of work. But

0:05:54.080,0:05:59.440
in terms of of families like ours, again, life 
insurance can be used to fund a special needs

0:05:59.440,0:06:06.160
trust, right? So, if you want to leave money 
long range to your special needs children,

0:06:06.160,0:06:11.440
we all know that they can't have what more than 
two or two or $3,000 to their name. Otherwise,

0:06:11.440,0:06:16.800
they they what they get they get disqualified 
from any government benefits that they're getting,

0:06:16.800,0:06:23.920
which we need in many cases, right? So, how are 
we able to make sure our children are financially

0:06:23.920,0:06:29.440
stable long range if we're not here? That's like 
a number one concern of a parent with a child with

0:06:29.440,0:06:35.440
special needs. I know it is for me. If I'm not 
here, are is my child and is my family going to

0:06:35.440,0:06:42.240
be okay in every way financially speaking. And 
so, the best way to do that is to have a life

0:06:42.240,0:06:46.320
insurance policy. You then you can then set up 
a special needs trust with Jane. She will talk

0:06:46.320,0:06:51.920
more about that in detail. and you can make 
the special needs trust a a beneficiary of

0:06:51.920,0:06:56.960
your policy and it can fund it immediately and 
there can be money there for your children and

0:06:56.960,0:07:05.520
it does not affect their SSDI Medicaid stuff 
like that like they're it's good. Um yes,

0:07:05.520,0:07:09.840
so any questions about that? I think I hit those 
all those high points there. Jane, anything to

0:07:09.840,0:07:16.080
add on that? You think you're doing great. 
Okay, very good. Step two, this is important,

0:07:16.080,0:07:22.080
is to have an information binder. Um, I've 
heard this also called a letter of intent. Uh,

0:07:22.080,0:07:27.360
I've just called it an information binder. Um, so 
if someone doesn't know you, they should be able

0:07:27.360,0:07:34.480
to pick up this binder and learn all the pertinent 
information about your child. Okay? Uh, diagnosis,

0:07:34.480,0:07:39.680
personality traits, daily routine, doctor's 
medication, support team, religious preferences,

0:07:39.680,0:07:45.920
etc., etc., etc., right? Um, this is very, very 
important. We need to update this bind this binder

0:07:45.920,0:07:51.360
annually as needed and make sure someone else 
knows where it's at. That's a really important

0:07:51.360,0:07:56.560
part of that, too. Um, for, you know, successor 
caregivers, they should for sure know, you know,

0:07:56.560,0:08:05.680
where that binder is at. Okay. And the third the 
third step that I think is important to know about

0:08:05.680,0:08:09.040
um, is something called a stable account. So, 
the state of Kentucky, some of y'all may already

0:08:09.040,0:08:15.520
know this, but the state of Kentucky allows you 
to set up what's called a stable account. Um,

0:08:15.520,0:08:21.440
this is essentially an investment account through 
the state that allows you to save money and invest

0:08:21.440,0:08:27.680
money over time for your special needs child that 
can then be used tax-free for anything medical

0:08:27.680,0:08:34.160
that they may need in the relative short term. 
Right? So, um, just like it says, it allows you

0:08:34.160,0:08:37.760
to save and invest without losing eligibility 
for certain public benefits and programs like

0:08:37.760,0:08:44.080
Medicaid, SSI, or SSDI. Earnings in the stable 
account are not subject to federal income tax so

0:08:44.080,0:08:49.600
long as you spend them on qualified disability 
expenses. Um, another caveat to this type of

0:08:49.600,0:08:54.240
account that people should know is I think there 
is, and Jane, you may know this better than I do,

0:08:54.240,0:08:58.880
there's a limit I think that you can save up 
to in the state of Kentucky. It's $100,000.

0:08:58.880,0:09:05.200
$100,000. So, you can't have any more than that. 
But this allows the disabled person themselves,

0:09:05.200,0:09:11.040
even if they're on public benefits, to um acrew 
money that they have control over. That's right.

0:09:11.040,0:09:17.360
So, Yep. It's really great. Yep. Absolutely. The 
the only and again, Jane, correct me if I'm wrong,

0:09:17.360,0:09:21.840
the something that could maybe even be considered 
as a downfall of an account like this is if you

0:09:21.840,0:09:28.080
don't use all the money and then your child, god 
forbid, passes away, then you don't get to keep

0:09:28.080,0:09:32.560
the remainder of that money. the state essentially 
keeps the whatever's left over in that account.

0:09:32.560,0:09:36.960
That would be I guess if there is a downfall 
to that, that would be one. That could help

0:09:36.960,0:09:41.680
you decide how much you want to leave in there. 
You know, it could help you say, "Well, I'd be

0:09:41.680,0:09:47.520
okay if I lost I mean, not okay losing $5,000, 
but that's an unlikely circumstance to happen,

0:09:47.520,0:09:54.160
but Right. Right. Yep." So, stablecont.com is the 
place to go to look up um everything about this

0:09:54.160,0:10:00.240
account. You can set it up right there online. 
It's a wonderful um option. And then having an

0:10:00.240,0:10:04.720
estate plan and a special needs trust is critical 
piece of this puzzle. Jane's going to cover that

0:10:04.720,0:10:14.400
in detail here in a second. But in ter So just 
to kind of wrap this up here is a very uh prudent

0:10:14.400,0:10:20.080
thing to do when it comes to a total strategy 
with your your financial life is the goal is to

0:10:20.080,0:10:26.160
create peace of mind and certainty around future 
care for your child if you were not here. Right?

0:10:26.160,0:10:31.280
So, we've got to make sure all state and federal 
programs are preserved and unhindered. We do that

0:10:31.280,0:10:36.880
by having special needs trust and estate plan, 
having an adequate life insurance policy in place,

0:10:36.880,0:10:41.440
and potentially having a stable account set up 
as well, right? That that's the only way that

0:10:41.440,0:10:46.880
we can really do that for our kids. Okay. Um, and 
then also we want to make sure that our personal

0:10:46.880,0:10:52.240
debt elimination and retirement plan strategy is 
in place because as we go with throughout life,

0:10:52.240,0:10:58.800
right, with all the challenges that we 
face with our our kids on day-to-day basis,

0:10:58.800,0:11:04.640
we don't want money to be one of those challenges 
later on, right? So, we need to make sure that we

0:11:04.640,0:11:10.080
are doing the right things with eliminating all of 
our bad debt, saving our money, um, having a plan,

0:11:10.080,0:11:15.120
having a budget, operating from from that as 
well. Um it's a very very important thing and

0:11:15.120,0:11:20.320
then obviously estate planning is critical. So 
that is all I had for you all and this is a good

0:11:20.320,0:11:24.480
time to pass it off to Jane but um I did send 
some questionnaires out to those of you that are

0:11:24.480,0:11:30.480
here. Um if you guys want to sit down one-on-one 
and go through your specific situation and want

0:11:30.480,0:11:34.480
some help setting up these plans, setting up these 
life insurance policies, help setting up the the

0:11:34.480,0:11:39.280
stable account online, having a plan to eliminate 
debt, having a plan to invest for retirement,

0:11:39.280,0:11:43.520
or at least getting a professional second opinion. 
I don't charge any money to sit down with people

0:11:43.520,0:11:48.000
to go through this. Um, I do a complimentary 
what's called financial needs analysis,

0:11:48.000,0:11:52.480
which is just like a complimentary second opinion 
in all the areas that that matter the most to you.

0:11:52.480,0:11:57.440
That's that's all that that means. Okay? So, if 
you'd like, you can leave your information on

0:11:57.440,0:12:02.400
that questionnaire and I will collect that after 
the meeting here and then I can reach out to you,

0:12:02.400,0:12:07.120
you know, outside of outside of this, outside 
of work hours and we can set up a one-on-one

0:12:07.120,0:12:10.800
either at my office or over Zoom or something 
like that. If that's not interesting to you,

0:12:10.800,0:12:14.160
that's cool. No problem. But I just want to make 
sure that that opportunity exists for anybody that

0:12:14.160,0:12:20.240
wants to um get started in that process or know 
what it's like to get started in the process. So,

0:12:20.240,0:12:27.440
um any other qu Yes. Do you have can the stable 
account be used for like private school for

0:12:27.440,0:12:32.960
special needs? I think it's only for qualified 
medical expenses. Medical expenses only. Okay.

0:12:32.960,0:12:39.440
Yeah. Kind of like an HSA but where you can 
fund more in it. Mhm. So, with final expenses,

0:12:39.440,0:12:45.600
could it like if if your child did pass away, 
could those funds be used for final arrangements

0:12:45.600,0:12:51.920
for your child? That's a good question. I'm not 
really sure. That's a great question. Um, Jane,

0:12:51.920,0:12:55.760
do you know? I'm looking it up. I was going 
to say that's probably a quick Google search

0:12:55.760,0:13:00.560
or chat GPT. So, what's the difference between a 
sale account and HSA account then? Is it just the

0:13:00.560,0:13:09.200
max you can put in there a year? An HSA? because 
it's taxree but you the max is like 85. The HSA

0:13:09.200,0:13:14.560
is for you though, right? Not for your Can you use 
anybody? You use it for both. Yeah. We use our HSA

0:13:14.560,0:13:20.400
to pay for all the therapy and stuff. Okay. Good. 
What's the difference? Okay. So, this funds may

0:13:20.400,0:13:27.360
be used for qualified disability expenses to 
maintain tax-free status which includes broad

0:13:27.360,0:13:34.480
categories like housing, transportation, 
education, health, and personal support.

0:13:34.480,0:13:43.360
Um, so and then there's a list housing expenses 
like rent, mortgage payments, property taxes,

0:13:43.360,0:13:47.920
home improvements, living expenses, 
food, utilities and daily necessities,

0:13:47.920,0:13:55.280
transportation, purchasing, maintaining or repay 
repairing a vehicle as well as public transit,

0:13:55.280,0:14:02.480
health and wellness, medical expenses, insurance 
premium, therapy and preventive services.

0:14:02.480,0:14:09.200
um education and training, tuition, books and 
educational materials, um assistive technology,

0:14:09.200,0:14:16.400
computers, specialized equipment and quite a bit. 
Yeah. Very well. Yeah. Okay. So, with the HSA,

0:14:16.400,0:14:21.120
this is a maybe you can help me with this. HSA, 
if you're using it for your child, it doesn't

0:14:21.120,0:14:25.600
count towards like money that's in their name or 
anything. It doesn't count towards their uh Well,

0:14:25.600,0:14:29.840
my child's not on Medicaid, so I don't know. But 
no, I mean, it shouldn't because HSA counts in my

0:14:29.840,0:14:34.960
my husband's name. Gotcha. And we can use it for 
any for any of us or our kids. Okay. Yeah. So,

0:14:34.960,0:14:39.040
I would assume you could use it in tandem. If 
you're looking to save more money, you know,

0:14:39.040,0:14:42.960
specifically for your child, you could use them 
together. Yeah. Can can I tell you one little

0:14:42.960,0:14:49.600
tidbit on along that goes with that? Because um 
so we have an HSA. Um but we also have Medicaid

0:14:49.600,0:14:56.320
for Charlotte and so for our like my husband has 
insurance um health insurance through his work.

0:14:56.320,0:15:02.080
So, our health insurance, which is like United 
Healthcare, first they pay everything that they'll

0:15:02.080,0:15:08.960
pay for her. Then Medicaid kicks in and pays 
for the rest of it. So, honestly, I don't want

0:15:08.960,0:15:16.880
to like say anything like whatever, but like it's 
very rare that I pay for something for her, okay,

0:15:16.880,0:15:22.880
that isn't covered by healthcare or Medicaid. 
There's like a couple prescriptions when I use my

0:15:22.880,0:15:29.920
son's on medic for her for that. But I don't but 
they never pay attention to what it is cuz it's

0:15:29.920,0:15:36.720
technically my husband and I are the owner of the 
HSA and as long as same thing we're using the it

0:15:36.720,0:15:41.360
to pay for like the things that are in the rules. 
Yes. Then they don't care if it's for her. But

0:15:41.360,0:15:47.200
that's yeah definitely need to get on Medicaid. 
Yeah. My son's on Medicaid as well. So yeah. And

0:15:47.200,0:15:51.600
I know we have there's also the the thing and 
I always forget the name of it. Sean's Sean's

0:15:51.600,0:15:54.160
probably going to be able to help me with this, 
but where you get like a refund of your health

0:15:54.160,0:15:59.920
insurance premium as well. That is that is KIP. 
Hey, Khip. Thank you. I always forget about what

0:15:59.920,0:16:05.120
that's called. Yes. I can't tell you what I can't 
tell you what it um stands for. Kentucky Health.

0:16:05.120,0:16:13.280
Kentucky Health Insurance Premiums, but yes, it's 
a reimbursement of your premiums that you pay for

0:16:13.280,0:16:20.880
or have deducted out of your paycheck. M the state 
will reimburse you that amount as a monthly check

0:16:20.880,0:16:27.600
to you in the amount that is deducted from your 
payroll for your child's Medicaid benefit. I never

0:16:27.600,0:16:33.120
heard of this. I need to be on this. Yeah. And 
and there are certain things if there's certain

0:16:33.120,0:16:42.000
things in that though like if you get um I can't 
remember what the um the is it triricare that is

0:16:42.000,0:16:47.280
the insurance if you were in um in the military. 
military. Okay. So, if you were in Triricare like

0:16:47.280,0:16:54.960
that KHIP does not work with that. It works with a 
like a private company like a United Healthcare or

0:16:54.960,0:17:01.680
whatever. Like that's who they reimburse for. Now, 
if if you're this is like my husband's insurance,

0:17:01.680,0:17:11.280
but like if it if it's like super expensive, 
there may be a cap. Like we're caprely,

0:17:11.280,0:17:14.800
but you know, don't quote me on that. But 
I do think there is a cap on that. I mean,

0:17:14.800,0:17:22.320
but it's still Yeah. covered therapy. Yeah. 
Hell would be. Yeah. And then there's so like

0:17:22.320,0:17:26.640
also with my son and again I know it may depend 
on the child and and things like that but my son

0:17:26.640,0:17:32.240
requires roundthe-clock nursing care. Um and 
so we signed up for something called again

0:17:32.240,0:17:37.760
hopefully that's PDS services. Is that what it 
is? Where they basically pay you as the parent.

0:17:37.760,0:17:41.760
They used to make you have a caregiver in your 
home. They used to basically force you to have

0:17:41.760,0:17:51.120
that and it's like well you know if one parent 
is staying home or you can uh you don't want a

0:17:51.120,0:17:54.160
caregiver in your house all the time right 
like us like we have nursing then we got to

0:17:54.160,0:17:58.080
have caregivers like I don't want all these people 
in my house constantly. Well now the state allows

0:17:58.080,0:18:03.760
you to have a one of the parents can actually 
be paid by the state to be the the caregiver

0:18:03.760,0:18:09.200
um or the attendant or whatever it's called. And 
so that's an option as well is that so that's

0:18:09.200,0:18:14.320
through like the Michelle P waiver or one of the 
other waiverss you have home and community based.

0:18:14.320,0:18:18.480
That's right. Okay. So you have to get community. 
Yeah. The home and community based waiver that set

0:18:18.480,0:18:29.200
up there. It you are required to at least attempt 
to use a like assistant a healthcare assistant.

0:18:29.200,0:18:36.480
But if it does not pan out or if there are none 
available to the region then it can break in to

0:18:36.480,0:18:39.920
where they allow the parent to be. Yeah. And 
that's fairly new within the last couple of

0:18:39.920,0:18:46.320
years that they've stemmed out of CO when nobody 
was willing to do it and there was all the social

0:18:46.320,0:18:50.560
distancing and it's carried over. it has kind 
of faded which is now why they've put in that

0:18:50.560,0:18:57.600
you have to at least attempt to use the service 
but if there are due to whatever shortages good

0:18:57.600,0:19:04.400
fit they do then kick it back and allow parents to 
be that person we qualify for that because she was

0:19:04.400,0:19:10.080
essentially non-verbal and so like imagine having 
someone else try to communicate and and can you

0:19:10.080,0:19:16.880
teach someone how to do that that correctly so 
it would be so frustrating yep very cool awesome

0:19:16.880,0:19:22.720
y'all that That's all I had for you. Um, I'm 
going to kick it over to to Jane. Yeah, Cam. You

0:19:22.720,0:19:31.440
just want to take the lanyard off and hand that to 
Jane. Yep. Then Jane, do you need any technology?

0:19:31.440,0:19:41.280
Jane uses old school visuals. I'm old school. And 
this is the old. Thank you. There you are. Oh,

0:19:41.280,0:19:46.400
there you go. Thank you very 
much. She It's like she metal.

0:19:48.640,0:19:57.360
the mantle. My name is Jane Schmidt. I'm um I'm 
an estate planning attorney. I draft wills and

0:19:57.360,0:20:04.240
trusts. Um so Jane is, by the way, my personal 
estate planning attorney and my family. Yes,

0:20:04.240,0:20:13.440
I had the honor of working with the Howell family. 
Okay. Do you all know what this is? I think I

0:20:13.440,0:20:19.040
know. No, I'm right that it's going to be like it 
appears to be a golden egg. So, what' you say? It

0:20:19.040,0:20:29.200
appears to be a golden egg. Yes. So, this is a It 
represents your nose egg. Everybody has a nostick.

0:20:29.200,0:20:36.720
It may be big, it may be small, but we all have 
something. We can't take it with us when we go.

0:20:37.280,0:20:47.440
So estate planning allows you to have control over 
who receives this and in the case of spe special

0:20:47.440,0:20:53.760
needs families, it's definitely your special need 
child, but also your other children as well. Um

0:20:53.760,0:21:04.160
70% Americans um do not have an estate plan. So 
when they pass um their estate is distributed

0:21:04.160,0:21:15.680
according to the laws of Kentucky. So for 
example um parents with one special needs child

0:21:15.680,0:21:24.480
um if one parent dies and they have assets just in 
their name, 50% of the assets go to the spouse and

0:21:24.480,0:21:31.360
50% go to the special needs child. And so if that 
were to happen, the special needs child would lose

0:21:31.360,0:21:40.480
their public benefits. Do kids all have public 
benefits? Are they all on SSI or SSDI or Medicaid,

0:21:40.480,0:21:47.360
Medicare or something? So yours are, yours are 
not. Do you have public benefits? We just got

0:21:47.360,0:21:58.320
Okay. Okay. Um, so there are two major types of 
estate plans. There's the will, that's the Honda,

0:21:58.320,0:22:07.920
there's the trust, that's the Cadillac. Um, a will 
is basic estate planning. I do wills for, single

0:22:07.920,0:22:18.640
people, young couples, um, people without much, a 
little bitty nest egg. Um, a will's most important

0:22:18.640,0:22:25.120
thing that it does is it names a guardian for 
your children. Um so if you don't have special

0:22:25.120,0:22:37.760
needs children a will a simple will would suffice. 
Um and a will can um take care of special needs

0:22:37.760,0:22:46.960
children. Also we put in a provision that if mom 
and dad pass there's this guardian and a trustee

0:22:46.960,0:22:56.560
and it all goes into a special needs trust. Um, 
the trust is the Cadillac of estate planning. This

0:22:56.560,0:23:04.080
represents a trust. A trust, a revocable living 
trust is a bucket. We make it work by titling all

0:23:04.080,0:23:13.600
of your assets to the to the trust. So, you have 
a house in John and Jane Doe's name. We change it

0:23:13.600,0:23:20.880
to the house in the name of the John and Jane Doe 
revocable living trust and put it in a bucket. We

0:23:20.880,0:23:30.000
have to do that for all the assets. We title them 
to the trust. That way it avoids probate has if

0:23:30.000,0:23:36.400
you've ever had to go through probate. Probate's 
downsize side is that it's public. You know,

0:23:36.400,0:23:44.480
we live we live our lives privately our entire 
lives. um why when we die does the government get

0:23:44.480,0:23:51.200
involved? You know, we don't want them involved. 
So, it's public. Um it's slow. It has to be be

0:23:51.200,0:23:58.320
left open for 6 months. And um the reason for 
that is it allows creditors to come forward. Um

0:23:58.320,0:24:04.000
and it can be expensive. So, tell everybody, 
you know, if somebody dies in their family,

0:24:04.000,0:24:12.240
um the probate attorney should charge hourly. 
They're allowed in Kentucky to charge up to 5%

0:24:12.240,0:24:20.480
of the estate without the judge even batting 
an eyelash. So it can be very very expensive.

0:24:20.480,0:24:32.320
Um a trust avoids probate completely if it's if 
it's done correctly. Um it uh is handled around

0:24:32.320,0:24:40.080
a board table, boardroom table uh just among 
family members. the attorney will advise the

0:24:40.080,0:24:53.600
um trustee on how to proceed, but they don't 
even really need to be involved um very much. So,

0:24:53.600,0:25:03.280
if you have a special needs child, um their money 
may go into a special needs trust or it may not.

0:25:03.280,0:25:10.800
I don't always set up a special needs trust. Um, 
and the reason for that is because once you set up

0:25:10.800,0:25:19.200
a special needs trust and you fund it, then Social 
Security Administration wants annual reporting and

0:25:19.200,0:25:28.400
they're very picky about how the money is spent. 
It can um help the child, but it can't supplant

0:25:28.400,0:25:38.240
the federal money. So, it can't take the place 
of their housing or their food. And the rules

0:25:38.240,0:25:44.400
are extensive about how they're going to watch 
that money and make sure it's um spent. If it's

0:25:44.400,0:25:52.800
spent incorrectly, they start taking back some of 
the um some of the money, the federal money. So,

0:25:52.800,0:26:02.960
for example, for the house, Satie is absolutely 
in love with Brooks and she is even thinking about

0:26:02.960,0:26:12.640
going into um helping special needs people for her 
life's mission. The Howls know that if anything

0:26:12.640,0:26:19.040
happens to them and Sadie's old enough, she will 
take over care of Brooks, so they don't have to

0:26:19.040,0:26:31.280
worry. um about what happens to Brooks. Um while 
Sadi's young, they have a a trustee and a guardian

0:26:31.280,0:26:38.080
in place through their revokable living trust. 
Again, they're people that they know really well,

0:26:38.080,0:26:46.160
their family members. So beyond having the 
notebook that Cam recommends where uh Brooks's

0:26:46.160,0:26:53.840
career is set out in detail for whoever would 
need to help out. Um we're not going to involve

0:26:53.840,0:27:02.000
uh social security looking over their shoulder. 
So we're going to have the money for Brooks

0:27:02.000,0:27:09.120
um go I think we set it up to go to Satie. I can't 
really remember. Sometimes I have it set up to go

0:27:09.120,0:27:19.840
to the the healthy child knowing that she will use 
it as the family wants. Um I have another friend

0:27:19.840,0:27:26.640
um where I help them set up again a revocable 
living trust. Um they have a son Michael. He's

0:27:26.640,0:27:36.240
45. He actually is living independently. Um and he 
is a pool shark but he does he this guy's good at

0:27:36.240,0:27:42.160
pool. His mom probably checks in on him four hour 
four times a day and she's got cameras looking,

0:27:42.160,0:27:48.480
you know, she there's not a minute goes by that 
she doesn't know where her son is. But again,

0:27:48.480,0:27:54.800
he's got two younger brothers that are both 
doctors. They will take care they will take care

0:27:54.800,0:28:01.760
of Michael. So, we're not setting up a special 
needs trust for Michael because again, we don't

0:28:01.760,0:28:10.160
want SSI to be involved. Um the brothers know 
they'll get Michael's share, but they know that

0:28:10.160,0:28:18.560
um a certain amount of money goes to him and they 
will use it and take care of him. So a special

0:28:18.560,0:28:26.960
needs trust is really good if if you don't have 
anybody who can step in and serve that role. Um,

0:28:26.960,0:28:35.920
or if you're older, say you're 70 and there's 
nobody stepping forward to take care of your

0:28:35.920,0:28:44.480
special needs child, um, we would definitely set 
up a special needs trust. We'd we'd fund it. Uh,

0:28:44.480,0:28:51.200
we'd set a trustee in charge of it. Um, 
we'd put everything in place. Yes, social

0:28:51.200,0:28:57.920
security is going to look over the shoulder, 
but that's just has the way it has to be. Um,

0:28:57.920,0:29:03.760
along with a will or trust, you need power of 
attorney, healthcare power of attorney, HIPPA,

0:29:03.760,0:29:11.600
living will. And incidentally, all kids need these 
documents, the healthc care power of attorney,

0:29:11.600,0:29:17.040
the HIPPA, and the power of attorney when 
they turn 18 because I got slapped in the

0:29:17.040,0:29:25.520
face. my daughter had to go to a psychiatrist. 
Um, and after she came out of the meeting,

0:29:25.520,0:29:32.480
um, I said to the psychiatrist, um, I need 
to know what happened. And she said, uh, not

0:29:32.480,0:29:38.880
much. She signs a HIPPA. Well, we've been having 
all time kinds of problems with this child. And,

0:29:38.880,0:29:48.640
um, I looked at her, I'm like, Brookie, honey, 
will you sign a HIPPA for mommy? and she did. So,

0:29:48.640,0:29:55.760
but you don't want to be in that position if you 
can help it. Yes. If you have guardianship of your

0:29:55.760,0:30:03.200
individual who has just turned 18, you don't need 
those. Then those need to be in place. Trumps all

0:30:03.200,0:30:07.520
those other things. They make them that look 
like child's play. Okay. Okay. That's Yes. And

0:30:07.520,0:30:14.960
so depending on your situation, you have to write 
down that list and like for you and your husband.

0:30:14.960,0:30:24.640
Yes. Yes. We have those. But good. Okay. Yep. 
Yeah. Um so, um once you have an estate plan,

0:30:24.640,0:30:32.400
it should be reviewed every 3 to 5 years. Uh and I 
want to I always try to tell people an estate plan

0:30:32.400,0:30:38.480
is part of a well organized life. Uh we pay 
our taxes, we go to the doctor for checkups,

0:30:38.480,0:30:48.000
we keep our homes repaired. This is just something 
on that checklist of how we live. Um, I will

0:30:48.000,0:30:58.240
review it for free and I'll just let Cam I'll meet 
with you and go over it with you for free. Um,

0:30:58.240,0:31:04.640
are there any questions? I have a question on 
the guardianship or even those other things that

0:31:04.640,0:31:11.200
you mentioned. How far in advance of when your 
child turns 18 should you start working on those

0:31:11.200,0:31:18.800
documents? I would just let them turn 18 and then 
file because it it shouldn't take that long. Even

0:31:18.800,0:31:23.040
file the HIPPA and the power of attorney and all 
that when they turn 18. You don't need all that.

0:31:23.040,0:31:28.400
If you're going to get guardianship, just rely 
I might if you're not getting guardianship cuz

0:31:28.400,0:31:33.360
like I don't think my son would need guardian. 
I don't know. But I So go ahead and um we could

0:31:33.360,0:31:41.040
even have this set up for them um to sign on 
their birthday when they turn 18. Okay. Um,

0:31:41.040,0:31:48.080
they can't sign before they're 18, but they have 
to voluntarily sign all of that when they unless

0:31:48.080,0:31:58.000
you have guardianship. Exactly. Okay. Right. So, 
yes, in um in April, wait, is it April? What month

0:31:58.000,0:32:04.240
is it now? It's March, I think it is. Okay. 
So, the um workshop that we're having in May,

0:32:04.240,0:32:13.040
is going to be um Kelsey, who is from the 
Commonwealth Council, who is really good at

0:32:13.040,0:32:17.280
um talking through like some guardianship 
or maybe you don't need full guardianship,

0:32:17.280,0:32:25.280
you need, you know, some secondary um levels. And 
then a social worker from um who is actually the

0:32:25.280,0:32:31.520
social worker that worked with me when we did 
Charlotte's guardianship. and she sat through

0:32:31.520,0:32:37.520
she was involved in the whole entire court thing 
but she sits in it's literally her job as a social

0:32:37.520,0:32:43.840
worker to sit in on court cases all day long. So 
in May those two are going to give like a session

0:32:43.840,0:32:50.400
like this. Okay. Um and to help actually I do 
guardianship also. So if you have guardianship

0:32:50.400,0:32:58.080
questions I can answer that. Okay. But um 
what kind of disability does your child have?

0:32:58.080,0:33:06.480
Uh my son is high functioning autistic ADHD. Okay. 
Yeah. He's still young though. He's nine. So we a

0:33:06.480,0:33:11.200
while. But yeah, I don't you know I don't know 
where he's going to be in 9 years. Okay. Well,

0:33:11.200,0:33:18.960
my ADHD child is an orthopedic surgeon. So he's 
very smart. That's not the issue. Gotcha. Just

0:33:18.960,0:33:24.560
trying to get there. Exactly. To do what you 
want him to do. It was hair raising. It was

0:33:24.560,0:33:32.400
hair raising. The the experiences we had in trying 
to keep him or how about how about you? What is

0:33:32.400,0:33:39.680
your child's disability? Um autistic. Okay. 
So, we don't know. We don't know where he's

0:33:39.680,0:33:53.520
going to land. Yeah. He's uh he's hot and cold. 
Okay. But he's quite deliberate. Okay. Okay. So

0:33:53.520,0:34:03.120
whole spectrum. But anyway, I have uh three 
ADHD children. It's been an adventure. But

0:34:03.120,0:34:14.800
um All right. Well, it was nice talking with 
you. Give me a call if you need some help.

0:34:14.800,0:34:18.240
Thanks for coming, sharing.