Attorney
A child’s eighteenth birthday is a natural moment to look ahead. For a family that includes someone with a disability, it is an opportunity to review financial support, benefits and decision-making arrangements together.
A supplemental needs trust can be established earlier, or later when appropriate. Age 18 is not a universal trust deadline. Beginning the conversation before adulthood gives everyone more time to understand the options and prepare.
Review benefits as adulthood approaches
SSI uses different rules for children and adults, including a review under the adult disability standard around age 18. Income and resources should be examined alongside the person’s actual benefits. Medicaid and other programs may have their own pathways and requirements.
A trust may help hold resources for the person’s benefit while preserving eligibility under applicable rules. Its usefulness depends on the trust’s terms, the source of the money and the person’s circumstances.
Choose the structure that fits the funds
A third-party supplemental needs trust can receive gifts or inheritances from parents, grandparents and others. Because the money never belonged to the beneficiary, this structure differs from a first-party trust funded with the beneficiary’s own property.
A qualifying first-party trust under federal law is established for a person with a qualifying disability who is under 65 and includes a Medicaid-payback provision. A nonprofit pooled trust is another possible structure; transfers after age 65 can still have penalty consequences. These distinctions matter more than simply having a document called a special needs trust.
Coordinate the family gifts
Review wills, living trusts, life insurance and retirement beneficiary designations. If a trust is intended to receive the child’s share, the relevant documents should direct it there.
Give relatives clear information about the plan so their advisers can coordinate intended gifts. Also review any custodial accounts or assets already titled in the child’s name. Those assets may need a different approach from a new gift by a parent.
Respect the young adult’s abilities
Adulthood also changes a parent’s ordinary legal authority. When the person has the necessary capacity, financial and health care documents can authorize trusted people to assist. Supported decision-making may help the person exercise their own rights.
Where additional legal authority is needed, Florida provides guardian advocacy for eligible people with developmental disabilities and guardianship procedures in other circumstances. The appropriate arrangement should reflect the person’s abilities and needs. We generally do not accept new guardianship matters except for existing clients. For new guardianship matters outside that scope, I can connect you with trusted colleagues, coordinate with counsel handling the court proceeding and remain involved in the broader plan.
Plan for everyday life
Choose a trustee and successors, discuss professional support where useful, and create a letter of intent describing the person’s routines, providers, preferences and hopes. These practical details help future caregivers and trustees understand how to use the resources well.
An ABLE account may also support independence and qualified spending. From January 1, 2026, qualifying disability or blindness must have begun before age 46. Its contribution and distribution rules should be considered alongside the trust.
Our planning guide for families explains how the documents, people and resources can work together.
Contact Verras Law to arrange a conversation with me in Palm Harbor, by appointment in Tampa or St. Petersburg, or by Zoom or teleconference.
Sources and further reading
- Federal first-party and pooled trust requirements
- SSI redeterminations and the age-18 review
- Florida guardian advocacy
- ABLE eligibility