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Parents who have a child with special needs like a physical and/or intellectual disability face many challenges. On today’s show Deirdre O’Brien, Executive Director of the Arc of Georgia and David B Glass, Vice President of the Arc of Georgia and Principal with Glass Financial Group were kind enough to share some real tips from their own life on how to care for a child with special needs.
The Arc of Georgia is a 50+ year old non-profit organization that advocates for families and people with developmental disabilities. The Arc works to develop programs, funding and public policy that assists these people realize their goals of learning, living and working in the community.
David discussed some of the financial issues families of a disabled child have to deal with. He suggested building a team of trusted advisors (including a financial/tax planner and an attorney like James McCarten from Burr and Forman who are experienced in special needs planning) to help manage the complexity that is involved. Deirdre mentioned that a well meaning financial gift from a family member can disqualify a child from receiving government assistance so you have to be very careful with your finances. They both mentioned the importance of setting up a trust to ensure that your special needs child is set up for life.
