Pre-Session Registration
Revolutionary Planning: Beyond the Docs
Pre-Sessions
ASNP is pleased to offer 4 half-day pre-sessions geared toward Special Needs Planning Attorneys and Financial Planning Professionals. Separate Registration and Fees are required to attend each session. $190 for Members / $350 for Non-Members.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Pre-Session 1 | Special Needs Planning Attorneys
Fundamentals of Public Benefits & Drafting a Third Party SNT
Registration Fee: $190 for members/ $350 for non-members
Understanding public benefits for persons with disabilities is critical to understanding how to prepare and administer a special needs plan. This program will discuss the fundamentals of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Childhood Disabled Beneficiary (CDB), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid, and Medicare as they concern persons with disabilities. Without knowledge of what is (and is not) available through public benefits and the rules that govern them, there is no special needs planning for attorneys or financial advisors. Moreover, without knowing the effect a distribution has on public benefits, an SNT trustee will not be able to properly administer special needs trusts.
This program provides the drafting attorney with excellent fundamental coverage of the provisions that are included in third-party special needs trust drafting. Yet, these provisions while excellent, do not cover some of the intermediate or advanced drafting challenges with which drafters will be confronted. The attendees and the presenter will use their collective brain power to discuss different solutions and methods for addressing challenging planning scenarios. This will be highly interactive so come ready to contribute.
1:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Pre-Session 3 | Special Needs Planning Attorneys
Traps for the Unwary in SNT Administration
Registration Fee: $190 for members/ $350 for non-members
The best-drafted special needs trust in the world does no good if the trustee (the person managing the trust) does not know what he or she is doing. A poorly performing trustee can cause loss of essential public benefits, loss of assets, and subject the trustee to personal liability. This seminar will discuss some of the top ways an SNT trustee can properly manage the trust to best enhance the quality of life of a person with a disability.
This seminar covers the different planning tools available to the professional when planning for assets owned by a person with a disability. This can happen in an emergency when the call comes in that the person is receiving assets and needs assistance immediately. While special needs trusts are a primary planning tool, the professional has other options. This can include ABLE accounts, spending down assets, purchasing exempt assets, or other transfers. The seminar will cover the basics of planning options, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each tool.
8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Pre-Session 2 | Financial Planning Professionals
Special Needs Planning Beyond Wills & Trusts
Registration Fee: $190 for members/ $350 for non-members
Pre-approved for CFP credits for Certified Financial Planners, sponsored by Affinia Financial Group
Attorneys talk about wills and trusts. Financial planners talk about money. Comprehensive planning incorporates both and brings the documents to life. The presentation will begin with an overview of the special needs planning process and focus on the importance of engaging family members throughout every stage of life on the special needs planning timeline. Cindy and Alex will discuss how to bring others, including non-family members and professionals, into the planning process and share case examples from their practice.
As a trusted advisor to your clients, understanding the signs of financial exploitation and how best to approach these challenging topics is an integral part of managing your clients’ interests. Given your proximity to and rapport with your clients, you are well-positioned to notice signs of distress and if your client may not have the capacity to make financial decisions for themselves. Progressive advisors are seeking new techniques to facilitate sensitive conversations and support the holistic needs of their clients. This presentation will help advisors identify the warning signs of financial exploitation amongst vulnerable clients and what criteria they should use in determining how and when to intervene.
As the number of children diagnosed with autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and other neurological disorders continues to skyrocket (1 in 44 as of March 2022), CPAs, financial planners, and lawyers need to understand the deductions and credits available in assisting families in planning for their unique situation. Our session addresses those items that are deductible from adjusted gross income (AGI) to determine taxable income. Specifically, we’ll address some unique medical expense rules and their related financing for families caring for those with special needs. In addition, the session will review timing issues as well as unusual issues in planning for itemized deductions under recent legislation. Our session will enable participants to maximize their deductions on Schedule A for 2022 and alert attendees to changes occurring in 2023.
1:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Pre-Session 4 | Financial Planning Professionals
Current Trends, Tools & Strategies in Special Needs Financial Planning
Registration Fee: $190 for members/ $350 for non-members
Pre-approved for CFP credits for Certified Financial Planners, sponsored by Affinia Financial Group
What are the important considerations when setting up, funding, and distributing first party and third party special needs trusts? Topics discussed will include: Pros and cons of different asset types, the role of life insurance, allocating between multiple children, balancing the planning needs of aging caregivers, effective trust distribution strategies, and more.
Government funding is more and more strained to provide for lifetime supports and housing options for individuals with disabilities. Learn about various housing options and how families/individuals can fund them using a combination of government benefits and personal resources.
By Richard Harwood and Pearl Hartley
Current trends, uses, and strategies in ABLE that every financial advisor needs to know. This is a workshop to talk beyond the basics of ABLE accounts and how to incorporate uses of ABLE for your clients and into your practice.
By Mary Rubenis and Daniel Nzouankeu
Pre-Session 2: Fundamentals of Public Benefits for Persons with Disabilities
NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Date: April 16th
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Speakers: Theresa Varnet and Travis Finchum
Understanding public benefits for persons with disabilities is critical to understanding how to prepare and administer a special needs plan. This program will discuss the fundamentals of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Childhood Disabled Beneficiary (CDB), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid, and Medicare as they concern persons with disabilities.
Without knowledge of what is (and is not) available through public benefits and the rules that govern them, there is no special needs planning for attorneys or financial advisors. Moreover, without knowing the effect a distribution has on public benefits, an SNT trustee will not be able to properly administer special needs trusts.
Pre-Session 3: Drafting the World's Greatest Third-Party Special Needs Trust
NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Date: April 17th
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Speakers: Michele Fuller and Kevin Urbatsch
Attendees will learn how to use ASNP’s SNT drafting guide to include numerous provisions that can be implemented immediately into their third party SNTs.
The program will discuss options such as choosing between a stand-alone SNT versus testamentary SNT; designing the best SNT management team that may include professional trustee, Trust Advisory Committee, Trust Protector, and Care Advocate; appropriate distribution provision standards; the importance of the Memorandum of Intent; ABLE funding provisions; and much, much more.
Pre-Session 4: Avoiding Common Pitfalls During SNT Administration
NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Date: April 20th
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST
Speakers: Emily Kile, Ann Koerner and Herb Thomas
Drafting the world’s greatest SNT is not enough. If an SNT trustee administers the trust incorrectly, the beneficiary could lose essential benefits and protections. This program will review the top situations that trip up SNT trustees and how professionals can avoid these dangerous pitfalls.
There will be a discussion on determining the beneficiary’s public benefits, knowing how different factual situations will dramatically affect administration, understanding the effect of distributions for food or shelter, knowing the differences between first- and third-party SNT administration, and much, much more.
Pre-Session 5: Practicum: Appealing the Adverse SSA Decision on Special Needs Trusts
NOW AVAILABLE ON VIDEO
Date: April 20th
Time: 4:15 PM – 5:30 PM EST
Speakers: Kevin Urbatsch
The SSA has issued a denial of the special needs trust you so carefully crafted. The client calls frustrated because the trust was not supposed to disqualify the beneficiary from SSI. What to do? This program goes through each step necessary to appeal an adverse SSA decision, along with tips and suggestions on how best to manage the appeal and resolve it to your and your client’s satisfaction.
Checklists, forms, and suggested language will be provided. The program will also review the necessary steps to obtain SSA approved attorney’s fees.