Revocable Living Trusts for Special Needs Families in Palm Beach

A revocable living trust is one of the most useful tools available to Palm Beach parents planning for a child with special needs. It lets you manage your assets during your life, plan for your own incapacity, and pass property to a special needs trust privately, usually without probate. Under Florida law, revocable trusts are governed by the Florida Trust Code in Chapter 736.

What a Revocable Living Trust Is

A revocable trust is an arrangement you create and control during your lifetime. You typically serve as your own trustee, move assets into the trust’s name, and keep full power to change or revoke it. Because you retain control, the trust is flexible while you are healthy and provides a smooth handoff if you become incapacitated or pass away.

Why It Matters for a Child With Special Needs

For most families, the goal is continuity of care. A revocable trust can name a successor trustee who steps in immediately if you cannot act, with no court involvement, so your child’s needs are met without interruption. At your death, the trust can direct your child’s share into a separate special needs trust, protecting eligibility for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income while still providing for their comfort.

Avoiding Probate and Protecting Privacy

Assets held in a properly funded revocable trust generally pass outside Florida probate. That matters for a special needs family in two ways. First, it avoids the delay of probate, which can run for months and is governed by Chapters 731 to 735 of the Florida Probate Code. Second, a trust is private, while a probated will becomes a public record, exposing details about your child’s inheritance and care arrangements.

Funding the Trust Is Essential

A trust only controls what you actually transfer into it. Retitling bank accounts, investment accounts, and real estate into the trust’s name, and reviewing beneficiary designations, is what makes the plan work. An unfunded trust leaves assets exposed to probate, defeating much of the purpose. Coordinating beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance with your special needs planning is especially important.

How It Pairs With a Lady Bird Deed

For the family home, some Palm Beach parents combine a revocable trust with a Lady Bird, or enhanced life estate, deed. This Florida tool lets you keep full control of your homestead during life and pass it automatically at death, while preserving homestead protections and avoiding probate on the property. Whether this fits your plan depends on your family and beneficiaries.

Limits to Understand

A revocable trust does not protect your own assets from your creditors during life, and because you control it, those assets remain reachable. It also does not, by itself, shield your child’s inheritance from benefit-eligibility rules; that protection comes from the special needs trust the revocable trust feeds into. Florida has no state estate or inheritance tax, so the focus stays on care, control, and probate avoidance.

Consult a Florida Attorney

This is general information, not legal advice. A revocable trust must be drafted, executed, and funded correctly under Florida’s Trust Code to do its job. Work with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to build and coordinate a trust around your child’s needs.