Guest Blog: A New Way for Parents to Create a Letter of Intent

By Michael Pearce, Special Needs Attorney, Founder, Vestidd.com

A new Application solves one of the biggest problems facing every parent of a child with special needs.

How can I continue to provide for the protection well-being of my children after I am gone?  How can I make sure that my child with special needs will be safe and continue receiving the best of care?  Every parent who has a child with special needs seeks answers to these questions.  In response, parents are advised to prepare a “Letter of Intent” that will provide guidance for caregivers into the future. However, through no fault of their own, parents are rarely able to complete this vital task.

Here are the Top 5 reasons preventing parents from creating their Letter of Intent:

#1.   Getting organized.
There are hundreds of constantly changing details to organize.  Many parents simply don’t have the time or energy to organize the myriad of details of their child’s life, let alone putting them down on paper.

#2.   Formatting.

Your Letter of Intent is a “road map” to guide others, so it must be comprehensive, yet easy to follow.   Finding no practical tools to help format a Letter of Intent, many parents simply abandon the task.

#3.   Updating.
Your child’s life is constantly changing, so the document must be constantly changed. Word-processed documents are cumbersome and not easy to update (even if you can remember where you saved it!).

#4.   Saving and sharing.
Your updated Letter of Intent must be shared with others after you are gone. You will select different people to fill key roles over time. Mailing out updated copies yearly to different people during your lifetime is a nearly impossible task to manage.

#5.   Getting Started.

Facing this daunting task, many parents are simply frozen by “writer’s block.”  How much information should I include? How much info is too much? How can I not lose it?  How can I easily update the document? How can I share my Letter of Intent with the right people after I am gone?  With so much to think about, there is no clear place to start.

Parents will be relieved to know that an Application is now available that solves all of these problems: Vestidd.

What is Vestidd?

Vestidd is an application that lets parent create a Vest for a child with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (Vest i d d).  Your Vest is where you store, remember, find and connect everything and everyone that matters in your child’s life.  Just like a life-vest, Vestidd will help keep your child safe and protected into the future.

How does Vestidd work?
To create a Vest and get started on your Letter of Intent, go to www.vestidd.com to sign up.    Vestidd is organized by Sections and Pockets.   Sections cover each major area of your child’s life.  Pockets are where you fill in specific and unique information about your child.  Vestidd has pre-organized everything, so you don’t have to.  You can jump right in and go.

Everything in One Place.
Say goodbye to post-its, binders, and email chaos.  All of the information that used to be spread out across your house and your brain will now have a single home.  Vestidd lets you remember, find and connect everything and everyone that matters in the life of your child with special needs.

Easy Updates.
Vestidd is a Cloud application that works from any device –   iPhone, iPad, tablet, android, mac, pc – they all work with Vestidd.  This means you can get to your Vest from any device and easily update information as the need arises.  Your Vest is always there, keeping key information available at your fingertips.

Sharing.
Vestidd lets you connect family members and your child’s support team with just the information they need. When you update your Vest, team members are kept current with automatic update notifications.  You can revoke sharing privileges at any time.  You can also share Vest information by printing out a hard copy.  Vestidd’s sharing tools allow you to pass on current and comprehensive information about your child to future caregivers, so that they can continue to update your Vest, for your child’s lifetime.

Superpowers.

Vestidd has many other features that help families with special needs. You can take a tour and learn more at www.vestidd.com.
My wife, Sue, and I created Vestidd to help parents complete the special needs planning puzzle.

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