Practice Area · Special Needs Trusts & Benefit Preservation
Special Needs Planning Attorney in Franklin, Tennessee
Protecting your loved one’s benefits, dignity, and future.
Overview
What is Special Needs Planning?
Special needs planning is a specialized area of estate planning that protects the eligibility of a person with disabilities for critical needs-based benefits like SSI and Medicaid, while still allowing family or third parties to provide additional resources for their care and quality of life.
Done correctly, a special needs plan means an inheritance, settlement, or gift doesn’t accidentally disqualify your loved one from the benefits they depend on.
Our Clients
Who We Work With
Our special needs planning clients are parents and grandparents of children (of any age) with disabilities, adult siblings taking on responsibility for a family member, and individuals with disabilities who have received or are expecting a settlement or inheritance.
The common thread is a person they love whose future depends on getting this right.
Scope of Work
What We Handle
Every family’s situation is different. Our work commonly includes:
- Third-party special needs trusts (funded by parents, grandparents, or others)
- First-party special needs trusts (funded from the beneficiary’s own assets)
- ABLE account guidance and integration
- Letter of intent drafting to guide future caregivers
- Guardianship and conservatorship planning for adult children with disabilities
- Coordination with case managers, financial planners, and government benefits offices
- Integration with the family’s overall estate plan
For an adult child who cannot manage their own affairs, this work often runs alongside a conservatorship and the family’s broader estate plan.
How We Work
Our Approach
The parents of a child with special needs usually spend decades thinking about one question: what happens after we’re gone. Our job is to answer that question with a plan that actually holds up.
We think about the long time horizon, the possibility of shifting rules, and the practical reality that whoever takes over caregiving needs clear instructions and workable tools. And we think about the beneficiary as a person, not just a legal problem to solve.
We think about the beneficiary as a person, not just a legal problem to solve.
Tennessee Statutes
Special Needs Planning Under Tennessee Law
Special needs trusts sit at the intersection of Tennessee trust law and federal benefits law, and the differences between trust types matter enormously.
Third-party special needs trusts are governed by the Tennessee Uniform Trust Code (T.C.A. § 35-15-101 et seq.), and they can be established during the funder’s lifetime or through their will. Because they’re funded with someone else’s assets rather than the beneficiary’s own, they don’t require a Medicaid payback provision when the beneficiary dies.
First-party (also called self-settled) special needs trusts are authorized under federal law at 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A). These trusts are used when the beneficiary’s own assets (a personal injury settlement, an inheritance received outright, back Social Security) need to be sheltered. They require the beneficiary to be under 65 at the time the trust is funded and must repay Medicaid at the beneficiary’s death.
Tennessee also participates in the federal ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) program, which allows individuals who became disabled before age 26 to save in a tax-advantaged account without those assets counting against SSI and Medicaid eligibility (up to certain limits).
Choosing the right structure, or the right combination of structures, is the single most consequential decision in a special needs plan.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a special needs trust?
A special needs trust is a legal structure that holds assets for the benefit of a person with disabilities without disqualifying them from needs-based government benefits like SSI and Medicaid. The trustee uses the assets to pay for supplemental needs that improve the beneficiary’s quality of life beyond what government programs cover.
What is the difference between a first-party and third-party special needs trust?
A first-party (or self-settled) special needs trust is funded with the beneficiary’s own assets, usually from a settlement or direct inheritance. It requires Medicaid payback at the beneficiary’s death. A third-party special needs trust is funded with someone else’s assets (parents, grandparents, or others) and does not require Medicaid payback. Third-party trusts are the preferred structure whenever possible.
Will an inheritance affect my child’s benefits?
Yes, if the inheritance is given outright. Even a modest inheritance can disqualify a person with disabilities from SSI and Medicaid, requiring them to spend it down before benefits resume. This is why parents planning for a child with disabilities should never leave assets outright to that child. Assets should pass through a properly drafted third-party special needs trust.
What is an ABLE account?
An ABLE account is a federally authorized, state-administered savings account for individuals whose disability began before age 26. Assets in an ABLE account (up to certain limits) don’t count against SSI and Medicaid eligibility, and the funds can be used for a broad range of qualified disability expenses. ABLE accounts are often used alongside special needs trusts.
Who should be the trustee of a special needs trust?
The trustee needs to understand both the legal requirements of the trust and the practical needs of the beneficiary. Options include a family member, a professional fiduciary, a corporate trustee, or a combination through co-trustees or trust advisors. The right answer depends on the size of the trust, the family’s dynamics, and the complexity of the beneficiary’s needs.
Can a special needs trust pay for anything?
A special needs trust can pay for things that supplement (rather than replace) government benefits: education, therapy, recreation, travel, transportation, adaptive equipment, personal care, and quality-of-life expenses. Direct payments for food and shelter can reduce SSI benefits, so those are handled carefully. A well-drafted trust with an experienced trustee navigates this daily.
Next Step
Ready to Get Started?
Schedule a consultation. Bring your questions and whatever pieces of a plan already exist. We’ll figure out what’s missing and build from there.