Government Benefits

The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Nancy Gibson, Esq., a Montana elder law and disability law attorney. Her Missoula-based practice spans the state of Montana. She is a member and past director of The Special Needs Alliance, an invitation-only organization of attorneys specializing in special needs and settlement planning. She is actively involved with the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), an organization dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly and persons with special needs. She currently is serving a second two-year term on the NAELA board of directors. Ms. Gibson limits her practice to elder and disability law, including estate planning and administration, but the majority of her cases involve special needs trusts and/or settlement planning.

The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member Peter J. Losavio, Jr., CELA, an attorney with Losavio & DeJean, LLC in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. He is a Louisiana Board Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist, and a Louisiana Board Certified Tax Specialist. Mr. Losavio is a charter member of the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association, and he is a member of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. Mr. Losavio obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from Louisiana State University and a Master of Law in Taxation from the University of Florida. Mr. Losavio's practice is limited to asset protection, life care planning and estate and tax planning.

The Voice is the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. The author of this installment, John S. Kitchen, Esq., has written articles published by the National College of Probate Judges and the Research Institute of America (RIA), and has drafted special needs trusts legislation enacted into law in New Hampshire. John has given presentations concerning special needs trusts at national conferences of the National Guardianship Association, ARC, National PLAN Alliance and Special Needs Alliance, as well as at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in a program sponsored by the National Disability Institute. John has a family member with disabilities, and he is a member of the Special Needs Alliance.

You are reading The Voice, the e-mail newsletter of The Special Needs Alliance. This installment was written by Special Needs Alliance member William King Self, Jr., CELA, of Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Self is a Certified Elder Law Attorney, recognized by both the National Elder Law Foundation and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. He is of counsel to the Memphis law firm of Apperson, Crump & Maxwell, and both he and the firm are rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest and most significant lawyer rating service. A Tennessee reader of The Voice wrote to ask a series of questions about special needs planning, and Mr. Self has graciously undertaken to provide some answers -- and assistance.