Greetings and Happy New Year from the Lawyers with Purpose Special Needs Trust consultant, Kristen M. Lewis, a private practice attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia. As we start 2013 together, I wanted to introduce myself to all of you brave practitioners making your way in the SNT world.
I graduated from Cornell Law School in 1984, and proceeded to develop a traditional estate planning private practice. In the late ‘80s, I prepared my first SNT in the context of a personal injury settlement for a baby who was severely injured at birth. The vast majority of my early SNTs were in the context of personal injury settlements, while a very few were in the context of traditional estate planning where the beneficiary’s disability was no one’s fault.
25 years later, those percentages are reversed: 80% of my SNTs are in the context of traditional estate planning, and 20% are in the context of personal injury settlements. Furthermore, a full 75% of my estate planning clients have special needs issues that must be addressed, whether for themselves, their children or extended family members. Special Needs Estate Planning is an area in which many, if not most, traditional estate planning attorneys know just enough to be dangerous.
Instead of becoming proficient in SNT planning, many traditional estate planning attorneys simply recommend that the intended beneficiary with special needs should be disinherited, and his or her share left to another family member who will “do the right thing” and utilize those funds for the benefit of the person with a disability. This is outdated advice, and probably grounds for a legal malpractice claim. The good news is that Lawyers with Purpose helps its members to tackle the complex issues presented by Special Needs Estate Planning, and equips them to ably represent their clients in this evolving area of the law.
It will be my honor and privilege in the weeks ahead to share with you my thoughts and other “pearls of wisdom” gleaned from many years of Special Needs Estate Planning work, as well as to keep you updated on current and cutting-edge developments in the SNT arena. As we spend virtual time together each week, it is certainly my hope that my blog entries will assist you in your practice, and perhaps even with your own family members or friends who may be challenged by a disability or other special needs. In my 25 years of speaking about SNTs to attorneys and other allied professionals, it has never ceased to amaze me how many of the seminar attendees approach me after the presentation with questions that pertain to their personal situations rather than those of their clients. 2013 promises to be a year of major developments in the SNT world, and I look forward to our journey together in the weeks ahead. – Kristen Lewis
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