The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will have the $1,200 emergency COVID-19 relief checks automatically deposited in their bank accounts just as they would normally receive their SSI benefit. Meanwhile, the Internal…
Special Education Law and COVID-19
By Matt Keister, Esq. The closing of schools due to COVID-19 has raised many legitimate special education law concerns and questions among families of children with special needs. Several of these issues are particularly important and deserve some consideration: Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) First, the question of whether schools can meet the continued requirement of…
Crowdfunding for Special Needs Individuals: Good, Bad, or “It’s Complicated”?
Having enough financial resources to support someone with special needs is an ongoing worry for many families. If resources are short, one increasingly popular option is to set up a crowdfunding campaign through such outlets as GoFundMe or Kickstarter. While…
New Retirement Law Changes Special Needs Planning
Just before the end of 2019, Congress passed and the President signed a spending bill that includes significant changes to retirement savings accounts. Known as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, this legislation changes rules around retirement…
SSA Issues Controversial Proposal That Could Cut Hundreds of Thousands From Disability Rolls
Advocates are warning that a little-noticed proposed rule change could result in hundreds of thousands of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients, many of them children, losing benefits. The change would subject millions of recipients to a more frequent…
What Happens to an ABLE Account If the Beneficiary Is No Longer Disabled?
It is possible that an individual, once diagnosed as a person with special needs, sometime in the future will no longer qualify as “disabled” according to IRS regulations. The individual’s condition might have improved through remission or medical treatment, for…
A Tax Break to Help Working Caregivers Pay for Day Care
Paying for day care is one of the biggest expenses faced by working adults with young children, a dependent parent, or a child with a disability, but there is a tax credit available to help working caregivers defray the costs…
Should 529 Funds Be Transferred to an ABLE Account?
Thanks to recent changes in the tax law, families can now make limited transfers from existing 529 accounts to ABLE accounts with no tax consequences. Families with special needs children may be thinking about rolling existing 529 funds into ABLE accounts. Perhaps on…
DOT Issues New Guidance for Travelers with Support Animals
As the number of passengers traveling with service and emotional support animals continues to increase, the federal government has provided some much-needed guidance on airlines’ responsibilities to accommodate people with disabilities. In the past year, multiple major airlines have been…
Congress Takes Aim at Ending Subminimum Wages for Workers with Disabilities
More than 420,000 people with disabilities nationwide are being paid less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the Department of Labor (DOL). Some of these workers have been performing the same routine tasks for decades,…