Special Needs
Attorney Shira Ravid, senior partner at Alto and Co., leads the special needs department, with cumulative, professional and personal knowledge, for over 17 years.
The field of special needs is a special field for our office. We believe that this is a special subspecialty in family law and treat it accordingly. In our office there is a separate department that deals with special families.
Before we start with the definition and explanation of what a special family is, it is important for us to clarify - this is not about exhausting rights in the National Insurance or the HMO. It is about a different and special relationship and the adaptation of the legal tools to a family that has special needs. Whether it's about wills, or divorce agreements, or whether it's about mediation with the courts or welfare agencies. It is a different language, different needs, and therefore a legal adjustment is required.
A special family is a family in which one or more of the individuals in it is defined as having special needs - whether it is a cognitive, neurological or mental diagnosis, whether it is a minor or a parent, whether the person has been officially diagnosed or not yet. The definition is of a special family and not just of a "special child" or a struggling parent - since this is a family struggle, and evidence and provision of a holistic family solution is required. This is how we believe and we communicate this to all the relevant parties. It is important that you pay attention to the fact that the professionals in our office are aware of this distinction, and if you have not yet chosen one - check it in advance.
From the moment you reached the stage where you received a diagnosis from a professional regarding one of the family members regarding a cognitive, mental, neurological condition, you are facing a new world of treatments, professionals, rights, committees, etc. - respect where you are.
Diagnosing a child with a special difficulty inevitably creates an inner fracture, fear, uncertainty, a crisis of faith, feelings of victimhood and guilt (each according to its doses).
Please note that statistically a special family is at a higher risk of parental separation and divorce - and as difficult as it is, make room for the strengthening and building of the partnership as well.
We in the department emphasize the use of legal tools to make order and find solutions to the problems that exist in everyday life - but it is still important to emphasize, these are tools - not the essence. The essence is life itself and mainly its quality.
As a general rule, we always prefer to be the ones who make the decisions for ourselves and our family, what may sound obvious is sometimes a challenging situation when it comes to a special family - the general guardian and the legal and welfare systems tend to enter our lives, mainly and not only, when it comes to resources and assets registered in the name of an adult who cannot make decisions for himself (and legally - a person appointed as his guardian)
And if we find ourselves in a legal dispute - a host of experts will be appointed by a court, who are not necessarily experts in our difficulty and who have the ability to have a tremendous influence on the making of judicial decisions regarding our lives and the lives of our children. We at the Alto office are here, with broad and accumulated specific expertise in this field, to advise and accompany you in the decision-making process regarding financial and family issues - through wills, trusts, agreements, etc. legal tools even within a special family.