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 Clermont 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 Clermont
Nearly 12% of Clermont residents live with a disability. Supplemental needs planning isn’t only for parents of a child with a disability. It can also protect a husband or wife who receives Medicaid.
A simple will that leaves everything to your spouse, then to your children, can knock a spouse on Medicaid off benefits if the well spouse dies first. A spousal supplemental needs trust, built into the well spouse’s will, is designed to prevent that. The assets flow into the trust instead, and when the spouse on Medicaid passes away, what remains goes to the family rather than the state.
If one spouse already receives Medicaid, or may need it for long-term care, have the other spouse’s will reviewed. We coordinate your wills with your Medicaid planning so the plan works for both of you.
Figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
From Our Podcast: Supplemental Needs Trusts: How to Protect Your Child’s Benefits in Florida
Elder law attorney Cary Moss joins Life, Legacy & Wealth to explain the $2,000 asset threshold that determines SSI and Medicaid eligibility, and why leaving money directly to a disabled child can end those benefits immediately. The episode closes with a scenario worth hearing before you name a beneficiary on any policy: a $400,000 life insurance policy left to the wrong beneficiary, and everything that one mistake sets in motion.
Why Clermont 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 at 8913 Conroy Windermere Road in Orlando is about 40 minutes from Clermont.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should serve as trustee?
Someone you trust to manage money carefully and, if it is a supplemental needs trust, to also learn the benefit rules or know that it is important to consult with an attorney who regularly practices in the area of special needs. That’s often a family member, sometimes with a professional co-trustee. We’ll talk through the options with you.
Besides a trustee, who else should be part of the plan?
A well-built plan also names a beneficiary’s advocate, who acts as a go-between for your loved one and the trustee. It also names a trust protector, a neutral person such as an attorney or CPA, who can step in without going to court if laws change or errors surface. These roles matter most decades from now, when original family members may no longer be available.
How often should a special needs plan be reviewed?
Every two to three years, and right away after any major health change, a change in living situation or the loss of a key family member. A supplemental needs trust isn’t a document you sign and forget. Laws change, and trustees move, remarry or die.
Related Reading
- The $2,000 Rule That Changes Everything for Special Needs Families
- How Can I Ensure that My Children or Dependents Are Taken Care Of?
- Is Your Child 18? Here Are Legal Documents Young Adult Children Should Have in Place
Other Services in Clermont
Estate Planning · Probate · Trust Administration · Guardianship · Medicaid Planning · Clermont
Supplemental Needs / Special Needs Planning Across Central Florida
Orlando · Windermere · Winter Garden · Horizon West · Ocoee · Winter Park · Orange County · Seminole County · Osceola County · Lake County
Directions to Our Office From Clermont
Talk to a Special Needs Planning Attorney Serving Clermont
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.