Funding a Trust For Michael Eyman
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CAMPAIGN SUMMARY
Michael has blessed many of us over the years. My wife, Anne, and I now need help to bring a blessing to him. That help will come through the funding of a special needs trust in Michael’s name.
THE NEED:
Many developmentally disabled adults Michael’s age move away from home and into a supportive group home or community. However, after giving this prayerful exploration Anne and I have concluded that keeping Michael at home with us is the best option for his long-term health and well-being. To do this will require more financial support than Michael’s government assistance and my salary is able to provide and will certainly require more than we can supply in our future retirement years.
We know that new ideas and opportunities for supported living are developed every year. If we one day find an option that meets Michael’s needs we are open to helping him transition to that new environment. Even so, whether Michael lives with us or in a supportive community, he will need the additional financial support that comes from a special needs trust.
For this reason we are looking for help to fund a $150,000 special needs trust that will assist in providing for his needs as well as provide the support Anne and I need both now and in the coming years. Before I get to the details of the plan (below), let me remind you of (or introduce you to) the one we are seeking to bless.
MICHAEL EYMAN
Michael is our 25 year old son with Cri-du-Chat syndrome, a chromosomal anomaly identified by a deletion in the short arm of the fifth chromosome (also known as “5p-“). He is a delightful man with a sense of humor who loves to laugh, play hide-and-seek and watch a good movie. Along with many other things, he enjoys his Sunday school classmates, time with his friend from Purdue Best Buddies, going to restaurants, taking the dog on a family walk, watching water fowl, watching flags in a stiff breeze, tugging on a fully inflated helium balloon, and therapeutic horseback riding (something he has done since he was three years old).
Cri-du-Chat manifests itself in several key ways for Michael.
Communication: Michael’s receptive skills are strong but he struggles to express himself. He is vocal but not verbal and therefore relies on “cueing”—using sign language to cue us in to what he is thinking. With significantly compromised fine motor skills, it is hard for him to differentiate one sign from another. Context, then, becomes the key to properly interpreting whether he’s talking about a movie, ball or cookie. We say he “speaks” with a heavy accent.
Mobility: Though he wears foot and ankle orthotics and is able to walk short distances, Michael is unsteady on his feet and needs a stabilizing arm for stairs, uneven ground and transitions. He uses a wheelchair for longer distances and may occasionally prefer to sit on the ground and scoot on his bottom.
Personal Care and Hygiene: Michael is incontinent and fully dependent on assistance for any bathroom activity. When eating a meal Michael is able to manipulate a fork or spoon, although he prefers to use his fingers and tends to overfill his mouth which makes choking a constant concern.
Muscular and Skeleton: Michael’s hypotonia (loose joints) puts him on the overly flexible side of the spectrum. He carries a significant “S” curve scoliosis and suffers from other minor issues. We don’t know what these things may mean as he ages, but we believe that it will likely require some form of more focused care in his future.
THE PLAN: FUND A SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST
Government assistance does not cover all of Michael’s needs. A lawyer, two financial advisors and a tax professional counseled us on setting up this special needs trust for Michael’s benefit.
A special needs trust is a legal arrangement that allows a developmentally disabled person to receive financial support without reducing their eligibility to receive state and federal assistance. Money in Michael’s trust does not belong to Michael. It is held in trust for his benefit and will be administered by designated trustees who will use the growth of this fund to pay for those things that his care-givers and government are not able to provide.
DETAILS ABOUT THE TRUST
· Goal: To raise $150,000 (note FAQ below for more info)
· Rationale: Assuming a 5% return means that $7,500 each year would be available to support Michael’s needs which would include, but not be limited to: his part for vacation costs (like visiting siblings), therapies not covered by insurance (like horseback riding), his part for family outings, and personal items like DVD players, iPad, books and toys. It could also be used to support us as care-givers, relieving the budget and paying for respite not covered by state funds. Finally, this return would also pay for the premium on a special insurance policy which will fully fund this trust after Anne and I both die as well as cover administrative costs associated with maintaining a special needs trust (tax preparation, taxes, legal fees).
· Trustees: For the foreseeable future, Anne and I will be both care-givers and co-trustees. The trust fund document provides guidance for succeeding trustees.
· Accountability: Social Security and Medicaid will receive an annual letter detailing how any money received from the trust was used. The IRS will receive an annual Fiduciary Income Tax Return. Tippecanoe County Courthouse will receive a bi-annual (every two years) guardianship financial report. Finally, as co-trustees, Anne and I will need to agree before funds can be disbursed. The trust document supplies accountability details once Anne and I are no longer serving as Michael’s care-givers, guardians or trustees.
· Future Guardians: When Anne and I are no longer able to care for Michael, and if no other acceptable options are available, he will transition into the home and care of one of his siblings. We are blessed to have a family who lovingly and eagerly embraces this as a future scenario and look forward to having a trust fund that will help Michael visit his siblings and keep these relationships strong.
TRUST SUMMARY: The intent of this trust is to create a financial vehicle that will perpetually contribute to meeting Michael’s needs without jeopardizing his public assistance. Secondarily, this trust will also relieve financial pressure from his care-givers.
DETAILS ABOUT ALL GIFTS
· Gifts given are given to a trust that is created for the benefit of Michael Eyman. Its legal name is “Trust for the Benefit of Michael R. Eyman.”
· Gifts given to Michael’s trust through this crowdfunding effort are not tax deductible.
· Gifts given do not provide any material benefit to the giver of the gift. They are given for personal reasons with no expectation of receipt of benefit or compensation.
· GoFundMe will automatically transfer your gift into a Special Needs Trust account for Michael’s benefit at Chase Bank.
· You can give anonymously through GoFundMe so that only the administrator knows of your gift (that would be Anne and me).
· As soon as the amount warrants or the campaign concludes, the funds in the Chase Bank account will be given to a professional financial advisor who will manage this trust for us.
· As Michael’s parents and legal guardians, Anne and I will serve as co-trustees.
· This GoFundMe campaign will conclude on Friday March 1, 2019.
MICHAEL’S TEAM
As everyone knows, we have never been able to care for Michael alone. When he was born our friends brought us meals, helped with laundry and cared for our other children while we met with specialists and tried to get our feet back under us. As Michael grew, the Lord provided dear friends who supported us by caring for him. Now that we have reached another transition we clearly see, again, how this is way beyond our own ability. We cannot do this alone.
As it has been for 25 years, so it is today. Please do not feel pressured to offer your help. Only assist as you feel led. No gift is too small. None is too great. Each is deeply appreciated.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Whether or not you are led to assist financially, please help us get the word out! Anne and I have always hesitated to ask for help so we will count on our friends to help spread the word about this opportunity. If you know someone you think knows Michael or has a heart for helping meet this kind of need, would you please tell them about this campaign? We estimate that there are about 1,250 people who have known or cared for Michael in Greater Lafayette and Spokane. With your help, we can let them all know.
Thank you for all you have done over the last 25 years to bring us to this place today and thank you in advance for however you feel led to help us secure the future for a son who has blessed our lives and touched the lives of many others along the way. Please take a moment to read the FAQ’s below and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Email is the best option.
FAQ’s
Yikes! $150,000 is a huge number. Does he really need this much?
Good question. Two separate special needs financial planners tell us that the actual amount he will need is somewhere between $500,000 and $650,000. We have an insurance policy that will bring it to this amount once Anne and I have died. Among other things, this current funding effort will make sure that the premium continues to be paid. It seems strange to say it, but in light of the need the $150,000 goal is a minimum starting point for us. The numbers do work out. Contact us if you have any questions.
What will happen to the money after Michael dies?
We’ve asked this one too. Since Michael is expected to reach full life expectancy a detailed plan is impossible to create at this time. Our desire is that the resources in this trust will continue as a blessing to others. For this reason our current instruction is to give control of the money to any of our children still living at that time and ask them to establish a foundation or fund that will assist the developmentally disabled or give the money away as a gift or gifts to existing organizations which have the same focus. Since there is no way we could ever pay this back, we are taking steps to make sure we can pay it forward.
Michael has blessed many of us over the years. My wife, Anne, and I now need help to bring a blessing to him. That help will come through the funding of a special needs trust in Michael’s name.
THE NEED:
Many developmentally disabled adults Michael’s age move away from home and into a supportive group home or community. However, after giving this prayerful exploration Anne and I have concluded that keeping Michael at home with us is the best option for his long-term health and well-being. To do this will require more financial support than Michael’s government assistance and my salary is able to provide and will certainly require more than we can supply in our future retirement years.
We know that new ideas and opportunities for supported living are developed every year. If we one day find an option that meets Michael’s needs we are open to helping him transition to that new environment. Even so, whether Michael lives with us or in a supportive community, he will need the additional financial support that comes from a special needs trust.
For this reason we are looking for help to fund a $150,000 special needs trust that will assist in providing for his needs as well as provide the support Anne and I need both now and in the coming years. Before I get to the details of the plan (below), let me remind you of (or introduce you to) the one we are seeking to bless.
MICHAEL EYMAN
Michael is our 25 year old son with Cri-du-Chat syndrome, a chromosomal anomaly identified by a deletion in the short arm of the fifth chromosome (also known as “5p-“). He is a delightful man with a sense of humor who loves to laugh, play hide-and-seek and watch a good movie. Along with many other things, he enjoys his Sunday school classmates, time with his friend from Purdue Best Buddies, going to restaurants, taking the dog on a family walk, watching water fowl, watching flags in a stiff breeze, tugging on a fully inflated helium balloon, and therapeutic horseback riding (something he has done since he was three years old).
Cri-du-Chat manifests itself in several key ways for Michael.
Communication: Michael’s receptive skills are strong but he struggles to express himself. He is vocal but not verbal and therefore relies on “cueing”—using sign language to cue us in to what he is thinking. With significantly compromised fine motor skills, it is hard for him to differentiate one sign from another. Context, then, becomes the key to properly interpreting whether he’s talking about a movie, ball or cookie. We say he “speaks” with a heavy accent.
Mobility: Though he wears foot and ankle orthotics and is able to walk short distances, Michael is unsteady on his feet and needs a stabilizing arm for stairs, uneven ground and transitions. He uses a wheelchair for longer distances and may occasionally prefer to sit on the ground and scoot on his bottom.
Personal Care and Hygiene: Michael is incontinent and fully dependent on assistance for any bathroom activity. When eating a meal Michael is able to manipulate a fork or spoon, although he prefers to use his fingers and tends to overfill his mouth which makes choking a constant concern.
Muscular and Skeleton: Michael’s hypotonia (loose joints) puts him on the overly flexible side of the spectrum. He carries a significant “S” curve scoliosis and suffers from other minor issues. We don’t know what these things may mean as he ages, but we believe that it will likely require some form of more focused care in his future.
THE PLAN: FUND A SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST
Government assistance does not cover all of Michael’s needs. A lawyer, two financial advisors and a tax professional counseled us on setting up this special needs trust for Michael’s benefit.
A special needs trust is a legal arrangement that allows a developmentally disabled person to receive financial support without reducing their eligibility to receive state and federal assistance. Money in Michael’s trust does not belong to Michael. It is held in trust for his benefit and will be administered by designated trustees who will use the growth of this fund to pay for those things that his care-givers and government are not able to provide.
DETAILS ABOUT THE TRUST
· Goal: To raise $150,000 (note FAQ below for more info)
· Rationale: Assuming a 5% return means that $7,500 each year would be available to support Michael’s needs which would include, but not be limited to: his part for vacation costs (like visiting siblings), therapies not covered by insurance (like horseback riding), his part for family outings, and personal items like DVD players, iPad, books and toys. It could also be used to support us as care-givers, relieving the budget and paying for respite not covered by state funds. Finally, this return would also pay for the premium on a special insurance policy which will fully fund this trust after Anne and I both die as well as cover administrative costs associated with maintaining a special needs trust (tax preparation, taxes, legal fees).
· Trustees: For the foreseeable future, Anne and I will be both care-givers and co-trustees. The trust fund document provides guidance for succeeding trustees.
· Accountability: Social Security and Medicaid will receive an annual letter detailing how any money received from the trust was used. The IRS will receive an annual Fiduciary Income Tax Return. Tippecanoe County Courthouse will receive a bi-annual (every two years) guardianship financial report. Finally, as co-trustees, Anne and I will need to agree before funds can be disbursed. The trust document supplies accountability details once Anne and I are no longer serving as Michael’s care-givers, guardians or trustees.
· Future Guardians: When Anne and I are no longer able to care for Michael, and if no other acceptable options are available, he will transition into the home and care of one of his siblings. We are blessed to have a family who lovingly and eagerly embraces this as a future scenario and look forward to having a trust fund that will help Michael visit his siblings and keep these relationships strong.
TRUST SUMMARY: The intent of this trust is to create a financial vehicle that will perpetually contribute to meeting Michael’s needs without jeopardizing his public assistance. Secondarily, this trust will also relieve financial pressure from his care-givers.
DETAILS ABOUT ALL GIFTS
· Gifts given are given to a trust that is created for the benefit of Michael Eyman. Its legal name is “Trust for the Benefit of Michael R. Eyman.”
· Gifts given to Michael’s trust through this crowdfunding effort are not tax deductible.
· Gifts given do not provide any material benefit to the giver of the gift. They are given for personal reasons with no expectation of receipt of benefit or compensation.
· GoFundMe will automatically transfer your gift into a Special Needs Trust account for Michael’s benefit at Chase Bank.
· You can give anonymously through GoFundMe so that only the administrator knows of your gift (that would be Anne and me).
· As soon as the amount warrants or the campaign concludes, the funds in the Chase Bank account will be given to a professional financial advisor who will manage this trust for us.
· As Michael’s parents and legal guardians, Anne and I will serve as co-trustees.
· This GoFundMe campaign will conclude on Friday March 1, 2019.
MICHAEL’S TEAM
As everyone knows, we have never been able to care for Michael alone. When he was born our friends brought us meals, helped with laundry and cared for our other children while we met with specialists and tried to get our feet back under us. As Michael grew, the Lord provided dear friends who supported us by caring for him. Now that we have reached another transition we clearly see, again, how this is way beyond our own ability. We cannot do this alone.
As it has been for 25 years, so it is today. Please do not feel pressured to offer your help. Only assist as you feel led. No gift is too small. None is too great. Each is deeply appreciated.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Whether or not you are led to assist financially, please help us get the word out! Anne and I have always hesitated to ask for help so we will count on our friends to help spread the word about this opportunity. If you know someone you think knows Michael or has a heart for helping meet this kind of need, would you please tell them about this campaign? We estimate that there are about 1,250 people who have known or cared for Michael in Greater Lafayette and Spokane. With your help, we can let them all know.
Thank you for all you have done over the last 25 years to bring us to this place today and thank you in advance for however you feel led to help us secure the future for a son who has blessed our lives and touched the lives of many others along the way. Please take a moment to read the FAQ’s below and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Email is the best option.
FAQ’s
Yikes! $150,000 is a huge number. Does he really need this much?
Good question. Two separate special needs financial planners tell us that the actual amount he will need is somewhere between $500,000 and $650,000. We have an insurance policy that will bring it to this amount once Anne and I have died. Among other things, this current funding effort will make sure that the premium continues to be paid. It seems strange to say it, but in light of the need the $150,000 goal is a minimum starting point for us. The numbers do work out. Contact us if you have any questions.
What will happen to the money after Michael dies?
We’ve asked this one too. Since Michael is expected to reach full life expectancy a detailed plan is impossible to create at this time. Our desire is that the resources in this trust will continue as a blessing to others. For this reason our current instruction is to give control of the money to any of our children still living at that time and ask them to establish a foundation or fund that will assist the developmentally disabled or give the money away as a gift or gifts to existing organizations which have the same focus. Since there is no way we could ever pay this back, we are taking steps to make sure we can pay it forward.
Organizer
Anne M. Eyman
Organizer
West Lafayette, IN