Prudent Steps To Take To Ensure Your Disabled Child’s Smooth Future
Providing for a disabled child and their future may be a bit harder than providing for a non-disabled child. That does not mean providing for a disabled child is impossible. You will need to look into ways to ensure your disabled child will be sufficiently taken care of when you have passed away.
Main Things To Ensure Your Child’s Problem-Free Future
There are so many things to consider for your disabled child’s future before anything happens to you. We are sure you have many things that are going through your head when you are trying to put things together. To help you ease your burden, here are some things you should have in place.
1. Secure living conditions
First things first – living conditions. Before you pass away, make sure that you have a house or apartment for your disabled child. It’s preferable you get one that is accessible and secure for your disabled child.
It’s preferable that the house or apartment is:
- In a safe location or area
- Has great amenities that are accessible for disabled people
- Fewer crimes
- Generally clean and free of any shady people
It’s best that you pay off the installments completely to the house or apartment before your name. Then name your disabled child as your beneficiary. That means when you are no longer around, your disabled child will have access to the home you’ve bought.
2. Public benefits and expenses
In the midst of settling your home mortgage for your disabled child, don’t forget to look into possible public benefits and expenses too. These public benefits and expenses can help you lighten up some of that weight in financially providing for your disabled child.
Look into public trusts that are created solely and exclusively for disabled children and/or people. Of course, there are certain criteria to be met before the disabled child is eligible for it. If the documents are in order then it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to claim them.
Generally, if the disabled child or person has to have a lasting physical or mental impairment that results in the inability to do anything of substantial gainful activity to be able to qualify.
3. Guardian to your disabled child
You should name a guardian to your disabled child even before you have passed away. Guardians can be divided into Guardian of Minor and Guardian Advocate.
Guardian of Minor means the appointed guardian who takes care of the disabled child until s/he becomes of legal age. The legal age in Malaysia is 18 years. These guardians will make sure nothing bad will happen to the disabled child before s/he becomes an adult. Also, they can be your disabled child’s legal guardian even when you have passed away before your child becomes a legal adult.
Guardian Advocate is meant for disabled adults. Like, let’s say if you have passed away eventually, then the guardian advocate will continue to be your disabled child’s (now adult) guardian. The guardian advocate can help to manage the finances, medical decisions, among others for these disabled adults.
4. Prepare a Letter of Intent for your disabled child
A Letter of Intent is not a binding document. This document contains the important details and information of the disabled person to future caregivers. In the very same document, it can also cover any benefits, resources, medical history, and treatment of the disabled person. It’s kind of a mini-biography of a disabled person.
This document may seem trivial but in the future, it will be very useful. When you are not around, you will not be there to explain to other people what your disabled child needs. This letter will “do the job” for your disabled child. They will thank you later.
5. Make sure there is sufficient money for your disabled kids
If you are able to amass enough money to cover for your disabled child then all is better. Disabled people may find it hard enough to look for jobs and opportunities to support themselves. As parents, at least try to leave behind as much as you can for your disabled child to be able to support themselves.
Conclusion
Having said all that, hopefully, you have something in place for your disabled child. That way, your disabled child may not have to suffer when you are no longer around.
