Tax planning should not be ignored when preparing an estate plan that involves a special needs child.
There is a general (and incorrect) assumption among some estate planners that taxes are of little or no concern to families of special needs children.
Income taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and the confiscatory generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax should all be considered and dealt with when preparing an estate plan. Equally important are the income and transfer tax consequences of a special needs trust.