Sawyer & Sawyer Professional Association

Parents of children with disabilities carry a specific fear that standard estate planning was never built to address. They worry that leaving money directly to a disabled child will disqualify them from Medicaid, SSI, or other government benefits. That fear is valid. What families do with it, though, determines whether their planning actually works. The Two Mistakes That Show Up Most Often The first mistake is cutting the disabled child out of the estate entirely. Parents assume government benefits will cover everything indefinitely. They won’t, or at least they can’t be counted on to. Benefit programs change. Funding gets cut. A child who is fine today may have significantly different needs in ten years. The second mistake is leaving assets to a non-disabled sibling with an informal agreement to “take care” of the disabled family member. That sibling may have every intention of doing the right thing. But a lawsuit, a divorce, an unexpected death, or incapacit...

Key Takeaways Probate is a court process that can consume up to 6% of your estate in fees — on a $1 million estate, that’s $60,000 gone before your family sees a dollar. Florida offers three practical probate avoidance strategies: a revocable living trust, a lady bird deed, and beneficiary/ownership designations. A trust that isn’t properly funded is worthless for probate avoidance — retitling assets is just as important as creating the documents for probate avoidance. Simpler strategies like lady bird deeds and beneficiary designations work well for straightforward situations, but complex family dynamics almost always call for a trust. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The right strategy depends entirely on your assets, your family, and your goals — which is why working with an experienced estate planning attorney matters. Why Probate Is Something Florida Families Want to Avoid For families across Orange, Lake, Osceola, and Seminole Counties — from Orlando an...

When a child has a disability, a standard estate plan can do real harm. Cary Moss, Managing Partner at Sawyer & Sawyer, P.A. and a Florida elder law attorney with nearly three decades of experience, breaks down exactly how supplemental needs trusts work, where they fail, and what families must do to protect a disabled loved one’s benefits while still leaving them something to live on. Cary covers the most common mistakes parents make, including cutting a disabled child out of the estate entirely or leaving funds informally to a sibling. She explains the full planning picture, from trustees and beneficiary advocates to trust protectors and guardian advocates, and why getting the legal language wrong can collapse the entire structure. No family should wait for a crisis to start this conversation. The right plan, built now, protects everything. In this episode, you will hear: Why cutting a disabled child out of an estate plan backfires, and what to do instead The hidden ri...

One number determines whether a disabled beneficiary keeps their government benefits or loses them entirely. That number is $2,000. Exceed it in countable resources by even one dollar, and SSI and Medicaid eligibility disappears. Most families don’t learn this until the damage is already done. Why a Direct Inheritance Can Do More Harm Than Good The instinct to leave money directly to a child with special needs comes from love. It also tends to backfire. When a parent names a disabled child as a direct beneficiary on a life insurance policy or in a will, that inheritance counts as a resource. A $400,000 payout lands in the beneficiary’s name, pushes them past the $2,000 threshold, and terminates their benefits on the spot. The family then faces the far harder work of rebuilding eligibility from scratch, with fewer options than they had before. A supplemental needs trust solves this before it starts. Assets held inside the trust don’t count toward that threshold. Bene...

A $2,000 asset limit stands between a disabled beneficiary and the government benefits keeping them afloat. Elder law attorney Cary Moss joins the show to walk families through supplemental needs trusts and why getting this planning wrong can cost far more than money. Cary breaks down the three types of trusts families encounter, first party, third party, and pooled, explains what each one covers, and draws a clear line between what a trust can pay for and what will trigger a loss of benefits. She also addresses Florida-specific programs, from ABLE United accounts to vetted pooled trust organizations like AGED and Guardian Trust Foundation. The episode closes with a scenario every Orlando parent should hear: a $400,000 life insurance policy named the wrong beneficiary, and what that mistake sets in motion. In this episode, you will hear: Why leaving money directly to a disabled child can eliminate their government benefits immediately The $2,000 asset threshold that determines S...

Most parents don’t see it coming. One day you’re signing permission slips and making doctor’s appointments, and the next your child turns 18 and the law treats them as a fully independent adult. You can no longer access their medical records, negotiate their bills, or make a single financial decision on their behalf without their written authorization. That shift happens overnight, and most families aren’t ready for it. The good news is that four straightforward legal documents fix the problem entirely. The Durable Power of Attorney Covers More Than You Think A durable power of attorney assigns an agent, typically a parent, to handle financial and contractual decisions for a young adult. That sounds abstract until you picture the real scenarios. Your college freshman has a billing dispute with the bursar’s office. Your 19-year-old gets into a car accident and needs someone to negotiate with the insurance company. Your child signs a lease with terms that...