Texas Special Needs Family Planning Checklist

What's Inside

A complete checklist for Texas families planning for a child, grandchild, or sibling with special needs — covering SNTs, ABLE accounts, guardianship at 18, Letters of Intent, and Medicaid coordination. Authored by Carla Alston, Christian's mother.

1. Step 1. Confirm which means-tested benefits your loved one receives or will receive (SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver)

2. Step 2. Establish a third-party Special Needs Trust funded by parents, grandparents, and any other family gifts

3. Step 3. Confirm every life insurance, IRA, 401(k), and POD designation directs assets to the SNT — not to the beneficiary directly

4. Step 4. Open an ABLE account for everyday spending (rent, therapy, clothing, a used vehicle) up to the annual contribution limit

5. Step 5. Coordinate with grandparents and extended family so gifts and inheritances flow through the SNT, not around it

6. Step 6. Evaluate guardianship, limited guardianship, or Supported Decision-Making Agreement before the 18th birthday

7. Step 7. Execute medical and financial powers of attorney and HIPAA authorization before the 18th birthday if guardianship is not needed

8. Step 8. Draft a detailed Letter of Intent documenting routines, medications, therapies, providers, preferences, and fears

9. Step 9. Choose a trustee and a successor trustee, with a professional or corporate co-trustee for compliance

10. Step 10. Understand Medicaid's 5-year look-back and how the disabled-child exception applies to your plan

11. Step 11. Review housing plans — parent's home, group home, supported living — and how the SNT will pay for housing without affecting SSI

12. Step 12. Schedule a plan review every 3 years and after any change in diagnosis, benefits, family circumstances, or Texas law