Planning Ahead - Florida Developmental Disabilities Council

LETTERS OF INTENTIn addition to having an attorney prepare a will for you, you should write a Letter of Intent. Thisis a letter to familiarize others with your family member and with your expectations. It is insome ways similar to the Personal Information Summary in this document, but usually with abroader level of information in the Letter of Intent. It should cover the things you do and do notdesire. The Letter of Intent should cover information regarding expectations and preferencesregarding the future of your family member, such as:• Living arrangement• Education• Employment or other daily activities• Supports and services needed• Important relationships to maintain• Medical history, health care needs• Abilities and needs regarding communication, independence in daily living andpersonal care, money management and decision making• Likes/dislikes and preferences in social and recreational activities, religion, foods• Effective ways to work with and support your family member• Financial information: government benefits, bank accounts, trust, life insurance,health insurance• Names, addresses and phone numbers of important people or agencies involvedwith your family member• Anything else that will be important for others to know about your family memberCAUTIONSometimes parents or other family members leave money intended for the person with the disabilityto another family member with instructions for them to “spend X amount of this moneyfor the benefit of the family member with the disability.” This is not always the wisest decisionto make. Even if the person receiving the money uses it as intended, things could happen thatwould prevent the money being available to the family member with the disability. Some examplesare:• If the person receiving the funds were to require nursing care, the money wouldbe required to pay for nursing home care—legally it would be considered thatperson’s money.• Creditors could take the money to satisfy claims.• If the keeper of the money died, the money would then go to his heirs rather thanto the person with a disability.Leaving assets to an agency or organization with expectations that the agency will care foryour family member for the rest of his life may not be safe or reasonable. If the leadership of44Chapter 9, Making an Estate Plan