Special Needs Planning
Protect benefits, protect autonomy, protect the people who love them when you're gone.
Special needs planning is the legal practice of providing for a person with a disability without disrupting their access to means-tested public benefits like SSI and Medicaid. It uses special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, and coordinated guardianship to combine family resources with public benefits over a lifetime.
Recognize yourself in any of these?
Your child is turning 18 and the rules change overnight.
At 18, your child is a legal adult — even if they need full daily support. We handle guardianship, supported decision-making, and the SSI application that should happen the month they turn 18.
Grandma wants to leave him something — and a direct gift would disqualify him.
Well-intentioned inheritances are one of the most common ways families accidentally disqualify a loved one from benefits. A third-party special needs trust solves this completely.
You're his parents now. Who will it be later?
Letter of intent, trustee succession, care coordination, residential planning. We help families build the plan that outlives them.
The work, named honestly.
- —First-party (d4A) and third-party special needs trusts
- —ABLE account coordination
- —Guardianship and supported decision-making
- —SSI and Medicaid application and appeals
- —Letter of intent and care-team documentation
- —Coordination with school IEP transition planning
An approach, not a transaction.
Special needs planning is rarely a one-time engagement. Most families we work with become long-term Guidance Program members because the legal needs evolve with the person.
About the Guidance ProgramFrequently asked questions about special needs.
What's the difference between a first-party and third-party special needs trust?+
A first-party (d4A) trust holds the disabled person's own money — typically from a settlement or inheritance received directly — and must repay Medicaid at death. A third-party trust holds money contributed by parents, grandparents, or others; it does not repay Medicaid and gives the family full flexibility to direct remaining funds to other heirs.
When should we set up a special needs trust for our child?+
Generally as part of the parents' own estate plan, even when the child is young. A third-party special needs trust costs little to establish and ensures that anything left to the child — by you, grandparents, or anyone else — protects benefits automatically.
What is an ABLE account and how is it different from a trust?+
ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts that disabled individuals can hold without losing means-tested benefits, up to certain annual contribution and total balance limits. They complement a special needs trust rather than replace it — most of our families use both.
Do we need a guardian for our adult child?+
Not always. Guardianship is the right tool when a person genuinely cannot make safe decisions about health, money, or living arrangements. For many adults with disabilities, supported decision-making is a less restrictive alternative. We talk through both before recommending either.
Let's figure out the next step together.
A 15-minute call is free. There's no obligation, and there's no sales pitch.
Schedule the call