girlygirl333
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
My son who is on the Autism Spectrum was abused by multiple school staff members repeatedly because of his disability. The district had policies in place that led to and/or condoned this abuse. They broke the law on a number of occasions denying my son his rights. After a number of attempts to get them to do right by my child, to no avail, I contacted Disability Rights. Their attorneys got involved immediately. After reviewing the documentation from the school I was advised by them to file a tort claim (they do not do that type of law so I was advised to find someone else for the claim).
Very long story short we settled the lawsuit at mediation. It did not go as my attorney had said it would and to this day I question the entire mediation process as I was not even allowed to see the other party, let alone work anything out with them. They were allowed to present a brief riddled with misinformation and flat out lies that my attorney didn't even allow me to respond to. That's probably a question for another community though. In the mediation process it was determined that my children were not entitled to monetary damages (the judge mediating said this), even though my son was directly abused by these people and denied a number of rights. They said he was too young to determine damages and therefore not entitled to them. My daughter witnessed them torturing her little brother and also sustained injuries from the meltdowns/outbursts that he began having as a direct result of the abuse he was suffering on a nearly daily basis. They agreed to fund private education for my son for a limited amount of time. Ultimately the mediator said I was the only one that was entitled to monetary damages. Makes zero sense to me but my attorney advised me to agree. She went so far as to tell me that if I didn't agree I was doing so "against her advice" which sounded like a warning not to do so. So feeling I had no other option, I agreed.
I am on SSDI and receive a small amount of SSI, cash aid and housing assistance. During this entire process my attorney and I were discussing how to best handle my son's money (it never occurred to me, nor did my attorney ever indicate that he would get "nothing"). On the advice of the regional center, I had applied for SSI for him and it was approved during the year that the lawsuit process was underway. My attorney was recommending an irrevocable trust for me and my daughter and a special needs trust for my son. Of course none of that worked out as it should have. Now I am wondering should I set up a Special Needs Trust since I am on disability? I am not concerned about the loss of my benefits since, according to Social Security, my SSDI/Medicare are not needs based and are not effected and I only receive a very small amount from SSI. I am however concerned about my son's benefits. My income/assets effect his ability to receive benefits, the most important of course being medical.
From what I've read if you have a Special Needs Trust you cannot have any say over how the money is spent/what it is used for. Since I am not incompetent I'm not sure how that would work either. The closest school that could meet my son's needs is about 6 hours from where we live now. Of course we are going to need money for the move and for a reliable car, etc. The cost of living is higher, but I've read the money cannot be used for housing, food, clothes, etc. Can it be used for a car? insurance? moving expenses? Also from what I've read it says the money can only be used for me. I am a single mom, of course I will need to spend money on my kids. This whole thing is so confusing. The amount is nowhere near what I was being led to believe it would be and they were allowed to set the amount based on the belief that because I receive housing assistance here, I should be able to receive it in any other county I move to. On top of that somewhere in the "mediation" process the judge/mediator seems to have "misquoted" the minimum I was willing to settle for and got a settlement 1/3 less than the final amount I agreed to. Again, my attorney advised me to take it, even though I was sobbing and was having difficulty breathing at the time. Point being it isn't a "huge" sum of money but definitely enough that my son would lose his benefits.
We still haven't settled as yet. The process has been pending since we've been unable to find a school that meets my son's unique combination of needs and also will not reject him based on a past history of behaviors (even though they stopped once he was removed from that environment and had proper services, modifications and accommodations in place). Now we found a school and we are awaiting a response from the district.
I don't want to wait too long and end up having to make a snap decision on how to handle this. For obvious reasons I don't trust my attorney's recommendations any more. Now I have no idea who to talk to about this. Since I am on such a limited income, I can't really afford to go sit down with anyone to discuss this, so I would greatly appreciate any advice that the community can provide.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My son who is on the Autism Spectrum was abused by multiple school staff members repeatedly because of his disability. The district had policies in place that led to and/or condoned this abuse. They broke the law on a number of occasions denying my son his rights. After a number of attempts to get them to do right by my child, to no avail, I contacted Disability Rights. Their attorneys got involved immediately. After reviewing the documentation from the school I was advised by them to file a tort claim (they do not do that type of law so I was advised to find someone else for the claim).
Very long story short we settled the lawsuit at mediation. It did not go as my attorney had said it would and to this day I question the entire mediation process as I was not even allowed to see the other party, let alone work anything out with them. They were allowed to present a brief riddled with misinformation and flat out lies that my attorney didn't even allow me to respond to. That's probably a question for another community though. In the mediation process it was determined that my children were not entitled to monetary damages (the judge mediating said this), even though my son was directly abused by these people and denied a number of rights. They said he was too young to determine damages and therefore not entitled to them. My daughter witnessed them torturing her little brother and also sustained injuries from the meltdowns/outbursts that he began having as a direct result of the abuse he was suffering on a nearly daily basis. They agreed to fund private education for my son for a limited amount of time. Ultimately the mediator said I was the only one that was entitled to monetary damages. Makes zero sense to me but my attorney advised me to agree. She went so far as to tell me that if I didn't agree I was doing so "against her advice" which sounded like a warning not to do so. So feeling I had no other option, I agreed.
I am on SSDI and receive a small amount of SSI, cash aid and housing assistance. During this entire process my attorney and I were discussing how to best handle my son's money (it never occurred to me, nor did my attorney ever indicate that he would get "nothing"). On the advice of the regional center, I had applied for SSI for him and it was approved during the year that the lawsuit process was underway. My attorney was recommending an irrevocable trust for me and my daughter and a special needs trust for my son. Of course none of that worked out as it should have. Now I am wondering should I set up a Special Needs Trust since I am on disability? I am not concerned about the loss of my benefits since, according to Social Security, my SSDI/Medicare are not needs based and are not effected and I only receive a very small amount from SSI. I am however concerned about my son's benefits. My income/assets effect his ability to receive benefits, the most important of course being medical.
From what I've read if you have a Special Needs Trust you cannot have any say over how the money is spent/what it is used for. Since I am not incompetent I'm not sure how that would work either. The closest school that could meet my son's needs is about 6 hours from where we live now. Of course we are going to need money for the move and for a reliable car, etc. The cost of living is higher, but I've read the money cannot be used for housing, food, clothes, etc. Can it be used for a car? insurance? moving expenses? Also from what I've read it says the money can only be used for me. I am a single mom, of course I will need to spend money on my kids. This whole thing is so confusing. The amount is nowhere near what I was being led to believe it would be and they were allowed to set the amount based on the belief that because I receive housing assistance here, I should be able to receive it in any other county I move to. On top of that somewhere in the "mediation" process the judge/mediator seems to have "misquoted" the minimum I was willing to settle for and got a settlement 1/3 less than the final amount I agreed to. Again, my attorney advised me to take it, even though I was sobbing and was having difficulty breathing at the time. Point being it isn't a "huge" sum of money but definitely enough that my son would lose his benefits.
We still haven't settled as yet. The process has been pending since we've been unable to find a school that meets my son's unique combination of needs and also will not reject him based on a past history of behaviors (even though they stopped once he was removed from that environment and had proper services, modifications and accommodations in place). Now we found a school and we are awaiting a response from the district.
I don't want to wait too long and end up having to make a snap decision on how to handle this. For obvious reasons I don't trust my attorney's recommendations any more. Now I have no idea who to talk to about this. Since I am on such a limited income, I can't really afford to go sit down with anyone to discuss this, so I would greatly appreciate any advice that the community can provide.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?