How Can I Provide For My Autistic Child After I Have Died?

A person with autism can have complex needs, and you may be concerned about:

• Whether you can leave gifts in your Will to your Autistic relatives if they are unable to manage their financial affairs
• Whether it is better to leave the monies to another relative outright but with the hope they will look after your autistic relative
• The impact of an inheritance on any means-tested benefits they may receive and whether the community care can continue

If you have a child with autism, you can name the person you would like to act as a guardian if you died and they were under 18.

You can include a letter of wish to guide how you would like them to be looked after.

One of the main ways you can help care for your Autistic relative is by setting up a trust, either during your lifetime or in your will.

There are different types of trusts, and it is recommended that you seek professional advice on the best type of trust for your loved ones' needs.

The risk with leaving a gift to someone in the hope they will look after your loved one is that the person would be under no obligation to do so and may be unable to do so long-term if their circumstances change, e.g. they die, lose capacity or go through a divorce/bankruptcy.

Under a Trust, your Trustee would have the power to manage your assets for the benefit of your autistic relative (and others potentially).

You can choose who the Trustee will be and leave them guidance via a letter of wishes to help them manage the trust assets in the best interests of your loved ones.

Several factors would affect your decision as to which type of trust you would like to set up (such as whether your Autistic relative is in receipt of means-tested benefits and the value of your estate).

Disabled Person's Trust

This type of trust is similar to the discretionary trust referred to above.

However, the main beneficiary is someone who meets the definition of disabled by the government's definition.

In addition to the flexibility of the discretionary trust, the benefit of this trust is the favourable tax treatment for inheritance tax, capital gains tax and income tax.

The distributions the trustees can make must be mainly for the disabled person as the amount which can be paid to other beneficiaries is restricted.

The assets in the disabled person's trust are not considered for the disabled person's means-tested benefits, as the Trustees still have discretion about how much to distribute to the disabled person.