The Bright Futures Plan
What is the Bright Futures Plan?
Our team has developed a step-by-step guide and planning process to help families understand how to secure their loved one’s futures. Our plan involves three core areas: Government Supports, The Henson Trust (with Funding) and the RDSP. We work with families to create a budget and to show them where to find money for savings. We then explain how government benefits work and how to protect them. We create a savings plan to maximize their funds and show them what income they can create for the future.
Build an effective plan suited to your loved one’s need
Every family is unique. Because of this, no two plans are exactly alike, but they do share some essential features. The Bright Futures Plan by Ability Private Client Group is a customized, comprehensive and proactive approach to ensuring that your disabled loved one’s long-term needs are properly addressed to deliver the very best quality of life possible.
The Bright Futures Plan by Ability Private Client Group contains several important components:
Last Will and Testament
The will is a crucial part of the plan. It spells out how you want your estate to be distributed after your death, and it usually establishes the Henson Trust.
Henson Trust
Virtually all disability plans will contain a Henson Trust. This is the vehicle that allows us to leave money for the benefit of our sons and daughters with disabilities, without preventing them from participating in the Ontario Disability Support Program. It also becomes the primary source of quality of life funding for our sons or daughters with a disability after we have passed on.
Powers of Attorney
Parents of people with disabilities should ensure that powers of attorney for property and for medical care are established for themselves. This will ensure that care for their own needs will be available if they should become incapacitated in the future. In some cases, the person with the disability should also establish power of attorney for themselves.
Registered Disability Savings Plan
The RDSP is a major component of any Bright Future Plan and an important savings tool that can provide additional, ongoing quality-of-life support for a person with a disability. The funds that are withdrawn from an RDSP have some restrictions as to timing and amounts, but they can be used for any purpose.
Life Insurance Policy
Most Bright Future Plans are at least partially funded by a life insurance policy taken out on the lives of the parents of the person with the disability. This is a way for families to provide large sums of money to the trust with small monthly deposits to an insurance policy.
Person-Directed Planning and Facilitation
Person-directed planning helps people with developmental disabilities create a meaningful life plan that includes active participation in their community. A facilitator can help a person with a person-centred plan put it into action by working with family, friends and supporters. A person can move towards realizing goals and building new connections with the help of a facilitator.
Trustee Support
The Bright Future Trustee Support Program provides assistance to the trustees of a Henson Trust after the death of a disabled child’s parents. Trustees need to know how to operate the trust effectively, keep records, spend money within the directives of the Ontario Disability Support Program, and generally how to provide a decent quality of life to the person with a disability. Our team can provide support in all of these areas, alleviating a trustee’s burden as they navigate a daunting series of tasks.
Peace of Mind
The Bright Future Plan offers parents assurance that a strategy is in place to provide funding for their disabled son or daughter, even after they are gone. The trustees of the Henson Trust know that they can choose to be supported with information and guidance in their role as trustee, they will not be on their own, and they will have somewhere to turn for help in performing their task of being a trustee. The person with the disability knows there will be a group of people surrounding them in the future to help them achieve the quality of life that they want and deserve.
Why choose a Bright Future Plan?
Managing the needs of a disabled family member can be an exhausting, overwhelming process. But that needn’t be the case. With the right strategic approach, developing a comprehensive care strategy that meets their long-term financial needs can be a rewarding, stress-free experience.
The Bright Future Plan provides peace of mind to parents, their disabled loved ones and to the trustee of their Henson Trust. The proceeds of the insurance components of the plan are not subject to probate fees, are paid tax free and are available almost immediately after the death of the parents. The funding of the disabled recipient’s quality of life is guaranteed, while the plan also protects entitlement to ODSP benefits. Parents’ wishes are passed down to the trustee and caregivers upon their passing, and the trustee receives support throughout the entire process.