When someone you love has a disability, planning for the future comes with an extra question: how do you leave them something without costing them the benefits they rely on? Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid have strict asset limits, so an inheritance left the wrong way can end eligibility. Sawyer & Sawyer, P.A. helps Orlando families plan around those rules with supplemental needs trusts and the documents that go with them.
How a Supplemental Needs Trust Works
A supplemental needs trust, also called a special needs trust, holds money for your loved one without counting as their own asset. A trustee you choose uses it for things government benefits don’t cover, such as:
- Education and training
- Transportation, including buying and maintaining a vehicle
- Vacations, recreation and hobbies
- Medical care and supplies not otherwise covered
- Personal items such as a computer or furniture
A third-party trust is funded by parents, grandparents or other family. It can stand alone or be built into a will or living trust. A first-party trust holds assets that already belong to the person with a disability, such as an inheritance or a settlement, and must repay Medicaid when that person passes away. Which one fits depends on where the money comes from.
Planning Ahead for Adulthood
When a child with a disability turns 18, parents no longer have automatic authority to make medical, financial or legal decisions for them. Depending on your child’s abilities, the answer may be a power of attorney and health care surrogate, a guardian advocate, or a guardianship. We’ll help you decide what fits.
Special Needs Planning in Orlando
About 1 in 10 Orlando residents lives with a disability. If someone you love is one of them, there’s no age too young to start planning.
A standalone third-party supplemental needs trust can be created now. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends can then name that one trust in their own estate plans, so their gifts are managed together by one trustee instead of being spread across separate trusts.
Once the plan is in place, review it every two to three years, and right away after a major change in your loved one’s health or living situation, or the loss of a key family member.
Figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
From Our Podcast: Special Needs Trusts: What Florida Families Must Know Before It’s Too Late
When a child has a disability, a standard estate plan can do real harm. In this episode of Life, Legacy & Wealth, Cary Moss explains how supplemental needs trusts work, where they fail, and the drafting errors that can sink one. She also covers how a standalone third-party trust makes it easier when several relatives want to contribute, the full planning team from trustees to trust protectors and guardian advocates, and how to prepare for your first meeting with an attorney.
Why Orlando Families Work With Sawyer & Sawyer
Sawyer & Sawyer, P.A. is a family firm that has served Central Florida since 1994. We treat every client as an extension of our family, and we focus on people before the paperwork.
- Cary L. Moss, Esq., Managing Partner. Concentrates on estate settlement, probate, trust administration, long-term care planning and estate planning. Served five years on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys, including a term as president.
- Thomas P. Moss, Esq., Senior Attorney. Focuses on estate planning, guardianship and estate settlement. Former Co-Chair of the Orange County Bar Association’s Estate, Guardianship and Trust Law Committee.
Our office is right here in Orlando, on Conroy Windermere Road.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will an inheritance affect my child’s SSI or Medicaid?
It can. SSI allows only $2,000 in countable assets for an individual, so an inheritance left outright can suspend benefits until it’s spent down. Leaving the gift to a supplemental needs trust instead protects eligibility.
Should I leave my loved one out of my estate plan to protect their benefits, or leave their share to a sibling?
Neither is a safe plan. Benefit programs can change or be cut, so leaving your loved one nothing is risky. A sibling holding money on an informal promise could be sued, divorce, become incapacitated or die, putting that money at risk. Leaving your loved one’s share to a properly drafted supplemental needs trust is the better approach.
How should we prepare before we start planning?
Start by confirming exactly which benefits your loved one receives. Medicaid and Social Security each include many programs with their own rules, so get a current benefit statement from Social Security and a letter from Medicaid confirming the program. It also helps to think about long-term housing, who would step in during an emergency, and your loved one’s current and future health needs.
Related Reading
- Special Needs Trusts Explained: Safeguarding Benefits in Orlando
- When Good Intentions Aren’t Enough: Protecting a Disabled Loved One’s Future
- The Day Your Child Turns 18, Your Legal Authority Ends
Other Services in Orlando
Estate Planning · Probate · Trust Administration · Guardianship · Medicaid Planning · Orlando
Supplemental Needs / Special Needs Planning Across Central Florida
Windermere · Winter Garden · Horizon West · Clermont · Ocoee · Winter Park · Orange County · Seminole County · Osceola County · Lake County
Directions to Our Orlando Office
Talk to a Special Needs Planning Attorney Serving Orlando
Call (407) 909-1900 or send us a message to set up a consultation. Our office is open Monday through Thursday, 9 AM to 5 PM, and Friday, 9 AM to 12 PM.