PURPOSE OF A LIFE PLAN
Families with special family members have unique challenges. The organizational tasks
that most parents and guardians do only for their youngest children can become lifetime
and post lifetime responsibilities for caregivers of special people. A Life Plan is a
coordinated program of future care planning, financial and legal planning for people with
disabilities and their families.
Financial and Legal Planning
The truth is that all families need to do financial and legal planning. Unfortunately,
a recent study concluded that American’s spend more time planning every detail of
their 2-week family vacation than they do creating the proper legal and financial plans
for their family. You see most people don’t plan to fail but they do fail to plan!
A recent study concluded that 85% of all Americans do not have up-to-date wills.
This lack of legal planning can have particularly devastating financial consequences
for families with special people (see Family Legal Planning).
From a financial perspective, families must define the financial resources needed to
take care of their special person(s) while at the same time providing for the other
financial objectives of the family. Then they must select a combination of resources that
will provide adequate funds for the person’s lifetime (1-90 years) from government
benefits, family assistance, settlements, inheritances, savings, investments and life
insurance.
Future Care Planning
However, the most important document in many Life Plans is the Future Care Plan (also
known as The Letter of Intent). The purpose of a Future Care Plan is to provide written
instructions to the future care providers, relatives, advocates, guardians, courts, etc.
on how the person with the disability should be treated (see Future Care Plan). Although
all people can use this document the more severe the disability the more important this
document becomes.
A Life Plan is a document that has no end. It lasts the lifetime of the Special person.
Caregivers must update the plan at least annually or more frequently if needed. This
annual review is critical because the needs of the special person change over time, as do
the laws and the family’s financial situation.
LIFE PLANNING INSTITUTE IS HERE TO ASSIST FAMILIES IN THE CREATION AND
ONGOING MONITORING OF THESE VERY IMPORTANT PLANS. NO OTHER ORGANIZATION THAT WE ARE AWARE
OF PROVIDES THE ONE STOP SERVICES OF LIFE PLANNING INSTITUTE!
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