Disability
In the final episode of 'Can't Take It with You' Sue Medder and Sir Gerry considered the challenges some parents face when one child has a disability or is unable to look after themselves to the same extent as their siblings.
Often such a child will have extra needs, both financial and emotional/physical, and their parents will spend a lot of their time helping them in many different ways. For such parents it can be very hard indeed to deal with the issues that will arise in future when they are no longer around to help their child. When looking to draw up a will and consider their estate planning, many parents find it challenging as to how to treat their children, especially if they have other children who do not have the same needs. This can be a set of circumstances where the concepts of equality and fairness can be quite far removed from one another.
Such parents must make the difficult choice as to whether they wish to favour the disabled child over the others so as to help provide for the child when they are no longer around to do so themselves or whether they still wish to treat all of their children equally. Reasons for favouring the disabled child over the others include the cost of care and other medical expenses, the possibility that the child may be unable to make a living for themselves and the need to compensate the child for the support that they no longer receive from their parents.
However, coupled with this are often concerns about how the other children will fare, especially if they are not financially secure themselves, and a parent's natural desire to ensure that all of their children are properly looked after. The dilemma is very real indeed.
Many parents will often be concerned as well about their children's ability to manage their own finances. In such situations, a popular way forward is to leave some or all of your residuary estate on a discretionary trust for the benefit of all the children. This means that the trustees have the flexibility to make decisions in future and can benefit one or more of the children as they think necessary, or most appropriate, whilst taking account of changing circumstances. There would be an accompanying letter of wishes whereby the trustees are requested to treat the children equally as far as possible, but to consider making additional provision for the disabled child. The other siblings can receive some funds outright but, perhaps, just the income from the remainder of their share, until such time as the trustees are able to make final decisions as to the division of the estate.
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