Another Q & A With Annette!

Annette LOVES all the questions she gets because she LOVES doing these Q & A podcasts.  Making sure the disabled community has access to all the information they need is key to Annette.  This is one reason why in addition to being a successful attorney, Annette is a podcast host, speaker, author and blogger.  

As an attorney, Annette does have an ethical responsibility to not engage in a client /attorney relationship with someone who is not a client.  Since each case is vastly different, she is not able to give legal advice on a personal level.  These Q & A sessions allow her to give general information on a specific topic.  In this episode, Annette discusses Foster Care and Social Security payments, putting Real Estate in a Special Needs Trust and Stimulus Payments regarding Social Security and Medicaid.

The Foster Care System and Social Security Payments

Our first topic we covered is the foster care system and Social Security payments.  10% of children in foster care are entitled to Social Security benefits but it has been discovered that they are not being told about this.  The foster care agencies are collecting these payments and are supposedly using the money towards the child’s care at the facility.  NPR did a great investigations article about this just recently which you can read here.  Do you feel this is right of the government to decide who gets to be the representative payee of a foster child that is entitled to Social Security benefits?  Please Contact Us  and tell us your thoughts. 

Annette’s Q & A next goes into some estate planning decisions – should you put your house into your Special Needs Trust?  This often comes up as you will want to make sure your disabled child or sibling has somewhere to live once you are no longer around to take care of them.    But what if you have multiple beneficiaries? Can you leave either half or one third of a house in a trust?  Will this cause too many challenges or be unfair for a trustee and/or beneficiaries?

Stimulus Payments or Economic Impact Payments

Annette’s final topic of the podcast revolves around stimulus payments or economic impact payments.  How does Social Security and Medicaid view these payments in regards to a person that collects their benefits?  Are the stimulus payments considered income or part of the $2,000 asset limit?  Also, what if you received a stimulus payment but you passed away?  Does this money need to be given back to the government or can it remain with your estate?

For more information on these and other topics, please also check out Special Needs Companies. For legal advice, inspiration and other resources, visit our blog here. Similarly, you can always listen to previous podcast episodes where we have done other Q & A sessions before. Be sure to leave us a review! You can also download our free eBook here. We are always looking for podcast guests as well so please let us know if you or someone you know, has a special needs or disability topic you would like to speak about – Contact Us! 

You can also join our free Facebook community for the disability community, the “Circle of Care,” or watch the webinars and other speaking events on YouTube. The purpose of this community is to create a space for people to be themselves. They can ask questions and get support and answers, so please share these resources with your friends!

Listen to the full episode here!

Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.