Who Can Set Up the ABLE Account?

ABLE accounts were Congress via the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act in 2014 and allow people with disabilities to save for disability-related expenses while maintaining eligibility for government benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicaid. A person can save up to $15,000 per year and a maximum of $100,000.

But who can open an account for the disabled person? Family members? The parents? Or in certain circumstances, the disabled person? ABLE accounts can be set up either by the account beneficiary (the person with disabilities), or that person’s parent, legal guardian or another person with power of attorney. If the beneficiary is opening an account, they must be 18 years or old and have the cognitive ability to understand what they are doing.

One big hindrance, however: the disability must have begun before the age of 26. This excludes many individuals that have become disabled later life, whether by a physical accident, medical condition, or neurological disease. Both houses of Congress have the ABLE Age Adjustment Act in front of them, which would increase the age of onset from 26 to 46.

See Who Can Set Up the ABLE Account?, ElderLawAnswers.com, November 12, 2018.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.