Thinking about the future can be hard when you have a disabled child. Their future and ability to be independent may not be clear, or you may know that they will always need a high level of care. However, there may come a time when you are not able to provide this for them. What will happen then?It’s always a good idea to have an emergency plan of what would happen if you were taken ill or had to go into hospital and were unable to care for your child. These could be arrangements made with family or friends and left with any professionals or services involved in your child’s life, such as a social worker or school.

Making a will to make your wishes clear and looking at finances as well as at care and guardianship options for your child are also steps you can take, particularly if you are a single parent or don’t have family who can step in. In a will, you can also detail your wishes for any family or friends who you wish to care for your child. It is also a good idea to look at options such as sheltered housing, care homes or specialist nursing care and create a care plan for them which would come into effect to care for them if you no longer can.

Helpful advice can be found here. Also, If you are worried about what will happen if your child is an adult when you can no longer care for them, visit here for more support.

Financially, setting up a trust can give you peace of mind and ensure that if you can’t care for your child due to ill health or death, that your wishes are followed, and your child is taken care of in a way that meets their best interests. A trust might be an option and although there are qualifying conditions to meet. A Disabled Person’s Trust can be any sort of trust where there is at least one beneficiary who is a disabled person. These often have favourable tax advantages. You can find out more about this on the gov website here and here.