57 RI Bar J., No. 4, Pg 37. Estate Planning for Parents of Disabled Children Personal Support Networks and Special Needs Trusts.

• Author: Gayle Tarzwell, Esq. practices from the Law Office of Gayle Tarzwell in Wakefield. John R. Grasso, Esq. practices from the Law Office of John R. Grasso, Inc. in Providence.

Rhode Island Bar Journal

Volume 57.

57 RI Bar J., No. 4, Pg 37.

Estate Planning for Parents of Disabled Children Personal Support Networks and Special Needs Trusts

Rhode Island Bar Journal57 RI Bar J., No. 4, Pg .37January/February 2009 Estate Planning for Parents of Disabled Children Personal Support Networks and Special Needs TrustsGayle Tarzwell, Esq. practices from the Law Office of Gayle Tarzwell in Wakefield. John R. Grasso, Esq. practices from the Law Office of John R. Grasso, Inc. in Providence.A client walks into your office and tells you she needs an answer to a question. So far, no big deal. After all, you get paid to answer questions. If clients had the answers to all their questions, you would have little to do during the day. So, "What is your question," you ask. "Well," she says, "it's not really my question." "Whose question is it," you reply. "It's

Allison's, my adult daughter with a disability." "Is Allison okay?" "Yes, Allison is doing well." "What, then, does Allison want to know?" "Allison wants to know what will happen to her when I get sick or die."

When you awoke that morning, you probably did not expect to have to answer that question. Now you do. You are your client's attorney. She trusts your judgment and relies on you to help solve her problems. She doesn't know how to answer her daughter's question and therefore has a problem, so she turns to you. Allison's question is a very real, lifelong worry of adults with disabilities. Her question is also a very real, lifelong worry of her parents. Whether or not their parents are at the center of their support system, adults with disabilities worry that life without parents, and maybe even siblings, will be lonely and isolating.

Rhode Island estate planning practitioners and their clients are fortunate to have two very valuable resources available to address this question - Personal Support Networks (PSN) and Special Needs Trusts (SNT). Originating in Canada in 1989 and reporting great successes, PSNs are now being formed by families with persons with disabilities throughout the United States. Here in Rhode Island, a non-profit organization, Personal Lifetime Advocacy Networks of Rhode Island (PLAN RI) has been organized by families of adults with disabilities to give the PSNs structure, accountability and endurability. PLAN RI stands ready to assist estate...