Special Needs Financial Planning
Financial planning for parents raising a child with special needs
The rules are confusing, the stakes feel personal, and a lot of advisors quietly change the subject when you bring it up. I built this part of my practice because these families deserve better. I know the acronyms, the waitlists, and the 2 a.m. spreadsheet sessions.
About half the families who call us are working through some version of this. You won't have to explain why it matters here.
If any of this sounds familiar, you're in the right place
The 18th birthday changes everything
At 18, your child's SSI and Medicaid eligibility gets measured against their own assets and income. Money sitting in their name, even a well-meaning gift from grandma, can cost them benefits.
Every account has a right owner and a wrong one
UTMA accounts, 529 plans, savings bonds from family. Where the money sits matters as much as how much there is, and the wrong titling is expensive to unwind.
Your current advisor doesn't know this world
Most advisors have never opened an ABLE account or coordinated with a special needs trust. Some wing it. Most wave you off. Neither helps your kid.
Right now, the plan is you
Who steps in when you're not here, and what will they need to know? A real plan answers that on paper instead of leaving it in your head.
Prior to investing in a 529 Plan investors should consider whether the investor's or designated beneficiary's home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such state's qualified tuition program. Withdrawals used for qualified expenses are federally tax free. Tax treatment at the state level may vary. Please consult with your tax advisor before investing.
Bonds are subject to market and interest rate risk if sold prior to maturity. Bond values will decline as interest rates rise. Bonds are subject to availability, change in price, call features and credit risk.
What special needs financial planning covers
Special needs financial planning coordinates your family's money around your child's benefit eligibility. That includes ABLE accounts, special needs trusts, life insurance, government benefits, and your own retirement, arranged so the support you leave your child never accidentally disqualifies them from SSI or Medicaid.
The Custom Special Needs Plan™
Planning for a child with special needs takes a realistic vision of their future, a clear-eyed look at the resources available, a timeline that respects the deadlines built into the system, and a team that knows what it's doing. We put all four on paper as your Custom Special Needs Plan™, built through our Complete Planning and Review process.
What we typically work through together
- The ABLE vs. trust decision. ABLE accounts and special needs trusts solve different problems. Most families end up using both, each for what it does best.
- The turning-18 transition. SSI applications, adult Medicaid, account re-titling, and decision-making authority, mapped out before the birthday that changes the rules.
- Benefit-safe gifting. Grandparents want to help. We show them how to do it without triggering a resource problem.
- Life insurance that funds the plan. If a trust needs money when you're gone, we calculate how much and find the least expensive way to guarantee it.
- Your own retirement. You can't pour everything into your child's plan and skip yours. The two have to work together, and that balance is most of the job.
We don't draft legal documents. For trusts, guardianship, and estate work we refer you to special needs attorneys we trust, then coordinate the financial side so the documents actually get funded and the accounts land in the right names.
Go deeper on the pieces
ABLE Accounts
The $2,000 SSI resource limit puts families in a straitjacket: help your adult child save, and you can cost them their benefits. ABLE accounts exist to cut that knot.
Read the guide→
Special Needs Trusts
A trust is how grandparents leave an inheritance, how life insurance pays out, and how larger money supports your child for decades, all without touching benefit eligibility. It's also the document most families get drafted and then never actually fund.
Read the guide→
Turning 18
Nothing about your child changes on their 18th birthday. Everything about the rules does. Families who start at 16 or 17 walk through this calmly. Families who start at 18 spend a year untangling.
Read the guide→
Outside Maryland? We're registered in 11 more states.
Most of this planning happens over video anyway. State-specific notes, including each state's ABLE program:
Why I do this work
I got into special needs planning after watching too many stressed-out parents who wanted help and had no idea who to ask.
So when we meet, you can skip the part where you justify your worry. We'll go straight to the part where you get organized.
Colin Meeks, CFP® · Owner
Questions people actually ask
SSI has a resource limit of $2,000 for an individual. Assets above that line, held in your child's name, can suspend benefits.
Money in a properly structured ABLE account (up to $100,000 for SSI purposes) or a special needs trust generally doesn't count toward the limit. In practice, where the money sits matters more than how much there is, which is why account titling is one of the first things we review.
Start with a 15-minute call. It's complimentary.
Tell us what's on your plate. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and you'll know exactly what working together costs before you commit to anything.
Prefer the phone? Call 410-663-0700 and ask for Colin.