Special
Needs Planning
The Future Deserves More Than A Settlement. It Deserves A Plan.
Planning for Today. Preparing for Tomorrow.
When a settlement involves an individual with ongoing medical, personal care, or support needs, planning for the future takes on added importance.
Special needs planning looks beyond the immediate settlement to consider how funds can support an individual’s quality of life, long-term care, financial stability, and potential eligibility for needs-based government benefits.
Ringler Consultants help bring together settlement strategies and specialized resources to create a plan centered on the individual and their future.
Looking at the Whole Picture
Every individual has different needs, goals, and circumstances. A thoughtful settlement plan may need to provide for expenses today while anticipating needs that could continue for decades.
Special needs planning may consider:
- Ongoing medical treatment and therapies
- Personal care and support services
- Housing and accessibility needs
- Transportation and mobility
- Education, training, and employment support
- Future income and financial needs
- Medicaid, SSI, and other needs-based government benefits
- Special Needs Trusts and other trust solutions
- Structured settlement payments
- Professional trustee and administration services
The goal is to create a coordinated strategy in which each component of the settlement works together.
Special Needs Trusts &
Structured Settlements
For individuals who receive needs-based government benefits, receiving settlement proceeds directly may affect eligibility. A Special Needs Trust may be used, when appropriate, to hold and manage settlement assets while helping preserve eligibility for certain benefits.
Structured settlements can work alongside a Special Needs Trust by providing scheduled payments to the trust over time rather than placing all settlement proceeds into it at once.
Structured settlements provide scheduled future payments by the issuing life insurance company, instead of immediate cash.
Together, these tools can help create a scheduled source of funding designed around anticipated needs, with professional oversight of trust assets.
It’s not just about preserving benefits. It’s about creating a plan for a lifetime of needs.
Bringing the Right
Team Together
Special needs planning often requires expertise beyond the structured settlement itself.
Ringler Consultants can work with attorneys, trustees, trust professionals, financial professionals, care planners, professional administrators, and other specialists to help coordinate the different components of the settlement.
By bringing these resources together early, the settlement team can evaluate options and develop a strategy that considers both immediate priorities and long-term needs.
Start Planning Early
Decisions made during settlement can have a lasting impact. Addressing special needs considerations early provides more opportunity to identify future expenses, evaluate benefit eligibility, coordinate trust planning, and determine how settlement funds should be distributed. Ringler works alongside the legal team and does not provide legal or tax advice.
