We meet the lifetime legal needs of children and adults with disabilities, the elderly, and their families.
Caring for a family member from a distance is a daunting and complicated task. Practically, how does one ensure that a loved one receives adequate supervision? How does one ensure that Mom or Dad is eating, bathing, or maintaining the home? Emotionally, how can one remain connected in a caring, loving relationship when separated by hundreds or thousands of miles? …
Recently, I was out of the office for an early morning meeting with a client. While waiting in the lobby, I ran into a different client who happened to work in the building. I’d done some significant estate planning for her and her husband, and she told me that she’d been meaning to call me because they had follow-up questions…
Our Special Education Advocate, Mary Jo O’Neill, recently spoke to a great group of parents from Lev Miriam Bikur Cholim of Independence to answer some of their questions about the special education process. There were a lot of questions about how the EdChoice scholarship works with special education, so I thought it was a topic worth writing about. Can you…
Parent-teacher conferences are approaching. What if you just had an IEP team meeting, and you’ve said all you had to say? You should STILL go to the conferences! Don’t miss this opportunity to be face-to-face with your child’s teachers. It’s a much different environment than an IEP team meeting. At parent-teacher conferences, it’s just that teacher and you. You’re typically…
There’s a chill in the air and the leaves are starting to change into beautiful bold fall colors. It’s a great time to put on those sweaters, relax by the fire, and maybe sit down to a nice warm bowl of soup. Today Hickman & Lowder is happy to serve you some Alphabet Soup! The Special Education world is chock…
Transitioning into a new school year can be exhausting; watching your child run out of his/her flip flops and walking into their school shoes. As parents, you understand the importance of having perfectly fitted shoes when strolling into the school year. It is equally important to have an academic plan tailored to your child’s needs. Students who require specially designed…
While catching up on recent news, I came across this advice column about a man’s decision to divorce his terminally ill wife. It made me very sad for the couple. It also reminded me that many people might believe this is their only resort when a spouse is facing devastating illness that requires long-term care. The husband must have felt…
Solving problems for our clients is stressful work for all involved. It is stressful for our elderly who need care. It is stressful for their spouses. It is stressful for adult children caring for their parents. It is stressful for parents taking care of their loved ones with special needs. Often, the system seems too complicated and the obstacles too…
Donald and Shirley engaged Hickman & Lowder to draft their estate plan with special needs considerations in the early 1990s. At that time, their daughter, Angela, who has a developmental disability, was living with them and receiving minimal benefits from the government. Donald and Shirley put a trust in place to provide for Angela after they both were gone. When…
Question: What is the school’s obligation to transport my child if we take the Jon Peterson or Autism scholarships? Answer: There’s no obligation on the part of the public school district to provide transportation just because your child has a disability. But, you can use the scholarship funds to pay for private transportation if the IEP identifies the need for…