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Speaker Series-When the Litigation Attorney Calls: Protecting Plaintiffs Who Have a Disability or Are Vulnerable
May 21 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT
When a plaintiff has a disability, is a minor, or vulnerable, litigation attorneys will often turn to an estate planning or elder law attorney to ensure that the plaintiff is protected. It is essential to understand how to assess a plaintiff’s needs, including whether they have a disability, receive or are applying for means-tested government benefits, or are over the age of 65, in order to advise the litigation attorney.
Join Rachel Baer, a fiduciary attorney member of the Special Needs Alliance, for a webinar covering these issues. She will discuss how to evaluate whether to recommend a special needs trust, ABLE account, or settlement preservation trust, as well as a comparison of pooled trusts and individual trusts. To aid in that evaluation, this presentation will give an overview of traditional Medicaid versus Medicaid expansion, as well as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and what steps, if any, need to be taken to protect these essential benefits. In addition, we will review Medicare Set Asides (MSAs) and structured settlements, and how they can be coordinated with a trust. We will also examine how to assist with the court order or settlement agreement, as well as contractual documents related to the MSA or structured settlement. Finally, we will discuss provisions to include in powers of attorney and trusts in the regular course of estate planning to allow fiduciaries to take actions to protect the plaintiff.
Continuing Education Credits
InterActive Legal is not an approved Continuing Education (CE) Sponsor. However, several states and regulatory agencies for a variety of professionals that participate on our teleconferences may still receive continuing education credit for their participation. If a participant wishes to receive CE credit for their participation in these teleconferences, they must apply to receive credit on their own and through their individual states and regulatory authorities. It is the responsibility of the participant to file for CE credit and is not guaranteed by the webinar sponsors.
Speakers
Rachel Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Clients at Commonwealth Community Trust (CCT), a non-profit pooled trust administrator that has served over 3,000 beneficiaries across the United States who are vulnerable or have a disability. Ms. Baer leads the New Client team at CCT and works with attorneys and other professionals as their clients join CCT. Ms. Baer frequently teaches continuing education classes on special needs trusts and preserving public benefits to professional organizations, including the Stetson University Law National Conference on Special Needs Planning and Special Needs Trusts, Practising Law Institute, MyLawCLE, Virginia CLE, the State Bar of Georgia Annual Special Needs Trust Program, the Alabama State Bar Annual Conference, the Wyoming State Bar Annual Meeting, and the American College of Financial Services - Advanced Special Needs Planning Symposium.
Prior to joining CCT, Ms. Baer was a partner at Family First Law Group, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia, and her practice focused on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and guardianship and conservatorship. Before entering private practice in 2012, Ms. Baer served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General’s Health Services Section for two years.