Modern Estate Planning Blog

The documentation that you create with your special needs planning lawyer in Fair Oaks will be quite detailed and will take an incredible amount into consideration, but it will likely not cover every possible concern or wish you may have for your child’s future care. For that purpose, many parents work with their lawyer to create a Letter of Intent.

The Letter of Intent is structured as a personal letter, rather than being a more formal legal document. It is used to supplement the special needs plan in order to provide additional important non-legal information to your child’s trustee and caregivers.

Uses for the Letter of Intent

• Parents often use it to address wishes that they have which don’t really fall under the purview of legal requirements.
• This document is also useful for addressing information about your child that is subject to change. While various other special needs planning documents tend to be more static, the Letter of Intent can be changed out as the information in it needs to be updated.
• Finally, a Letter of Intent is used to discuss topics that are just too lengthy to include in the special needs trust.

The letter is typically addressed to the people who will be caring for your child once you are unable to fulfill that role. When the time comes, your attorney will share the Letter of Intent with the child’s caregivers, as well as with the trustee. They can use the letter to help interpret your desires and to help follow through on the wishes you have for your child.

Where to Get the Letter

Your special needs attorney in Sacramento can help you draw up your Letter of Intent as a supplemental piece of your special needs trust. You may also wish to download a template for organizing your thoughts. A nice one is available at http://www.specialneedsanswers.com/moi_order.asp. As with any online resource, be sure to have your attorney review the document and offer advice and recommendations.