Los Angeles Special Needs Planning Attorney

Coordinated Legal, Benefit & Tax Planning for Families

Law Office of Mitchell A. Port helps families build coordinated plans for loved ones with disabilities. Drawing on more than four decades of experience, former IRS attorney Mitch Port considers the legal documents, public-benefit rules, trust taxation, and decision-making arrangements that shape a family’s plan.

Special needs planning can include a will, special needs trust, ABLE account, power of attorney, advance health care directive, and letter of intent. The right combination depends on the individual’s assets, capacity, current benefits, and anticipated support needs. Clients work directly with Mitch Port to develop a personalized strategy rather than relying on any single document.

Protecting SSI and Medi-Cal Eligibility

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medi-Cal are needs-based programs that impose asset limits on qualifying beneficiaries. An inheritance, gift, life insurance payment, or account passing directly to a person with disabilities can jeopardize eligibility. A properly structured special needs trust holds assets for the beneficiary without those assets counting as the beneficiary’s personal property.

An ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings tool authorized under 26 U.S.C. section 529A. It can fund qualified disability expenses while operating under specific contribution, distribution, and benefit rules. Whether an ABLE account, a special needs trust, or both belong in the plan depends on the source of the funds and how they’ll be used.

A coordinated review may address:

• Life insurance beneficiary designations
• Retirement account beneficiaries
• Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts
• Gifts or inheritances from parents and relatives
• Trustee authority and distribution standards

Decision-Making Options for Adults With Disabilities

California uses conservatorship for adults and reserves guardianship for minors. A limited conservatorship grants a conservator only the powers specified by the court for an adult with developmental disabilities, rather than removing civil rights wholesale.

Conservatorship isn’t the only path. Since January 1, 2023, California law has expressly recognized supported decision-making, an arrangement in which an adult chooses trusted supporters to help understand and communicate decisions. Petitioners seeking conservatorship must now disclose which alternatives were considered before filing.

Potential alternatives and advance-planning tools include:

• Supported decision-making: The individual retains decision-making authority while receiving help from chosen supporters.
• Power of attorney: A person with legal capacity authorizes someone to handle designated financial matters.
• Advance health care directive: A person with legal capacity names an agent and records health care instructions.
• Conservator nomination: A family can document a preferred conservator if court involvement later becomes necessary.

A Letter of Intent for Future Caregivers

A letter of intent, sometimes called a memorandum of intent, records practical information that legal documents rarely capture. Although it generally isn’t legally binding, it guides future caregivers and trustees on routines, medical history, communication preferences, relationships, education, housing, and the family’s broader wishes.

The letter should be revisited as circumstances change. It works alongside a special needs trust, ABLE account, or document granting legal authority, not in place of them.

Tax-Informed Special Needs Planning in Los Angeles

Mitch Port’s background as a former IRS attorney directly informs how the firm approaches trust taxation, reporting questions, and the tax consequences surrounding estate assets. That perspective matters most when a plan involves multiple trusts, retirement assets, inherited property, or an existing probate matter.

Trustees must coordinate distributions with the rules governing the beneficiary’s programs. Special needs trust distributions generally supplement rather than replace public benefits, but the effect can depend on what the trust pays for and which program is involved. When a plan requires additional input, the firm works with CPAs, financial professionals, and other outside advisers.

Build a Plan Around the Person, Not One Document

Families can schedule a consultation to identify current concerns, review existing estate documents, and discuss the structures that may fit their circumstances. Special consultation rates are available, and clients receive direct attention from Mitch Port throughout the process.

Call (310) 526-3433 to schedule a special needs planning consultation with Law Office of Mitchell A. Port.