We know that setting up a trust can be stressful and confusing. You want to make sure your loved ones will be taken care of and that you don’t forget to take care of any steps. We therefore provide personalized case management assistance to help individuals and their families in navigating the process of setting up a trust.

As an added value, we provide some case management services based on the needs of each participant and their families, recognizing that each participant is unique. As a result, Life’s Plan Inc. can offer a limited scope of our case management services to be responsive to the variety of needs we’ve encountered with those we have had the opportunity to serve. We understand that no two beneficiaries and their families are alike.  We approach each case with that understanding and with patience.  So that our clients feel supported through the whole process from beginning to end in the setup of their trust account, through the handling their requests and questions, through trust tax work and the entire trust administration process.

Life’s Plan Inc. offers many facets of support and assistance to participants, including helping with: 

• Obtaining property when a trust is qualified to make such purchase
• Intervening on the participants behalf in handling invoicing, bill payments and credit card purchases and disputes
• Planning vacations or needed transportation.
• Assisting with various vendors such as cable and streaming services, Wi-Fi and phone services.
• Helping deal with personal family issues, non-legal.
• Following up with phone calls after doctor or dental visits
• Purchasing automobiles if approved or pre-approved by our Board of Trustees
• Providing a listening ear as needed when providing financial supports to a beneficiary.
• Providing advisement and supports to making a move from a current residence to a new one.

For more complex or involved support needs, we are more than happy to find a beneficiary assistance with Case or Care Manager.  These are not Life’s Plan Inc. employees.  We do have a comprehensive list of case and care managers available throughout Illinois and some other states.  That can be paid for out of a beneficiary’s trust at a private pay rate.

In other cases, we can find additional care and services from other nonprofits.  These nonprofit referrals can often provide needed case and care management services funded through Medicaid and their waiver services such as Home-Based Community Services.   The types of trusts we manage are mostly Medicaid qualified Special Needs Trusts.  So, these Medicaid funded community-based case/care management services do not have to be expensed from a client’s trust account, but instead paid for by the state.

More complex support could include the following:

• Advocacy Services – providing ongoing scheduled visits and oversight to ensure you and your family are receiving appropriate service, quality of care and special need provisions. Advocacy and visits to the individual with a disability may be planned to meet the individual’s needs and provide the family with necessary peace of mind. This advocacy might begin when the parents move, become incapacitated or become totally disabled. The frequency of visits could be increased at the death of the first parent and again at the death of the second parent. The designated advocate will make any recommendations to the guardian or other designated individual who retains the decision making responsibility. This service can be utilized to provide a significant amount of support to the family unit, particularly to the sibling who may be taking over guardianship or care monitoring responsibilities.
• Funeral/Burial Services – upon the passing of a participant, we can work with the family to arrange for whatever option best suits them. This could include preparation of remains, church or religious services, flower arrangement, death notices, cemetery arrangements, insurance policies processing, etc.
• Relocation/Moving Services – we can arrange for the packing and moving of furniture and personal items, process the necessary notice of address change with post office and vendors, help disconnect, transfer, and reconnect utilities, and coordinate any other services you may need when moving.
• Bill Payments and Account Reconciliation Services – work with the participant to pay monthly bills, and reconcile monthly bank and/or credit card statements.
• Other Pre-negotiated Services – from time to time there may be additional needs of a participant and/or families that we may be able to support. Depending on the need and our expertise, Life’s Plan Inc.. will negotiate additional individualized services or connect you with someone else who can.

We understand how many areas of concerns families may have when caring for a loved one with disabilities.  We are here to help cover what we can for your special needs beneficiary to live the most fulfilling life they can with a  trust in place.  We are there to make sure there is adequate care throughout the life of their trust and perhaps through the life of the beneficiary. That’s why Life’s Plan is dedicated to helping you and your family along the way with our limited case management along with other outside Case and Care Management services when needed. If you want to get started with a special needs trust in Chicago, DuPage County, or in Illinois contact us today to learn more about how we can help.