THE BARATELLI INSTITUTE · Mentoring at Scale
BARATELLI INSTITUTE · FOR FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL-NEEDS CHILDREN

An inheritance is coming. What does it do to SSI and Medicaid?

A direct inheritance from a well-meaning grandparent can suspend SSI in 30-60 days and disqualify the child from Florida iBudget Medicaid waiver services worth six figures a year. This tool shows what happens with and without planning — the resource-cliff math, the cost of replacing waiver services privately, and the preserve-benefits path through a first-party SNT (the d4A mechanic) or, ideally, by getting the inheritance routed to a third-party SNT before it ever touches the child.

$2,000
SSI resource cliff
30 days
d4A SNT funding window
3 paths
Without / 1st-party / 3rd-party
$80K+/yr
Typical waiver replacement
STAGE 1 OF 3

Current benefits status

What SSI and Medicaid coverage the child receives today, so we can show what would be lost.

$
2026 federal SSI maximum is $967/month (verify current SSA figure). Florida does not add a state supplement for most categories.
$
Cash + checking/savings (excludes ABLE up to $100K, primary home, one car, household items). SSI resource cliff: $2,000 individual.
iBudget covers personal-care attendant, residential habilitation, supported living, behavior analysis, respite — services that retail at $50K-$150K+/yr.
Doctor visits, hospitalization, prescriptions. Florida Medicaid eligibility is tightly linked to SSI for SSI-recipients.
$
What the same services would cost privately. Personal-care attendants at $25-40/hr add up fast; residential settings $80-180K/yr.
$
Marketplace-equivalent annual premium + cost-sharing for similar coverage. Florida Medicaid spends roughly $8-15K/yr on a typical disabled child.
STAGE 2 OF 3

Inheritance about to arrive

$
The amount the child is about to receive, or that a relative is planning to leave directly. Even small amounts ($5,000+) blow the $2,000 SSI cliff.
If the answer is "direct to child," this tool exists for you. The other paths preserve benefits.
Time-critical. If an inheritance has already been received directly by the child, the d4A first-party SNT must be funded with the inheritance proceeds before the resource limit is tested at the next SSI redetermination. SSA practice has been a 30-day notice-and-cure window for resource transfers to a properly drafted d4A SNT; some local offices are stricter. Engage a Florida special-needs attorney within days of the inheritance, not weeks.
STAGE 3 OF 3

Three-path analysis & benefit-preservation playbook

WANT THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND THIS TOOL?
Read more in the Special Needs Family Financial Planning Reference.
The tool gives you the answer. The guide gives you the argument — the case law, the worked examples, the negotiation playbook, the cross-check tables, the exception cases.
The methodology behind this calculator is in Inheritance restructuring + d4A SNT of the reference guide.
Read more in the Special Needs Family Financial Planning Reference → Browse all 22 guides