How Much Does a Special Needs Trust Cost in Georgia?
A special needs trust in Georgia costs between $2,000 and $15,000 or more at most law firms. The price depends on the trust type. It also depends on how much court involvement the trust needs. A simple third-party trust sits on the lower end. Most parents need this type. A first-party trust sits on the higher end. This type holds a settlement or an inheritance the child already received. It may also need court approval.
At The Hive Law, a special needs trust is a flat $6,500. That is the same flat fee for every type of irrevocable trust. It includes a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. There is no hourly billing. There is no separate charge for the funding guidance session.
A pooled trust is the lower-cost path. A nonprofit already runs an approved trust. Your child can join for an enrollment fee, often only a few hundred dollars to $1,000. The trade-off is less control over how the money is managed.
What Makes the Cost Higher Than a Standard Trust
A revocable living trust only has to follow Georgia trust law. A special needs trust has to follow federal Social Security rules too. The whole point of the trust is to hold money for your child. That money cannot count as your child’s own money. This second layer of rules is what pushes the cost up.
Federal law recognizes two trust types. Neither counts against your child’s SSI and Medicaid resource limit. A first-party trust falls under 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A). A pooled trust falls under the same section’s subsection (d)(4)(C). Both have to include specific language. Both have to name the right kind of trustee. A first-party trust also has to include a Medicaid payback clause. Missing one required clause can cost your child their benefits. That is why the drafting has to be precise.
Distribution standards also add work. The trust has to spell out what the trustee can pay for directly. The wrong kind of payment can reduce your child’s monthly SSI check. In 2026, Social Security caps that reduction at $351.33 a month for shelter a trust pays for directly. Getting that math wrong in the drafting causes real problems later, once you are no longer the one managing it.
First-Party vs. Third-Party Special Needs Trusts
These two trust types solve different problems. The cost difference comes from what each one requires.
A third-party special needs trust holds money that never belonged to your child. Most parents build this trust as part of their own estate plan. It holds your own money or life insurance. It does not hold assets left to your child directly. It never has to repay Medicaid. The money was never your child’s to begin with. This is the version most families in this situation need.
A first-party special needs trust holds money that already belongs to your child. This is most often a personal injury settlement. It can also be a lawsuit award or an inheritance received without a trust in place. The money was legally your child’s. Federal law requires a Medicaid payback provision because of that. When your child dies, Georgia Medicaid is repaid first, out of whatever is left in the trust. Only the remaining balance goes to other heirs. A first-party trust often costs more to draft. It may also need a court’s approval to set up.
A third-party trust inside your own estate plan is usually the right tool if your child has not yet received a settlement or an inheritance. It is also the simpler, less expensive trust to build.
The Lower-Cost Alternative: Pooled Trusts in Georgia
A pooled trust is run by a nonprofit organization. The nonprofit manages one master trust. Each person who joins gets a separate account inside it. Georgia has nonprofits that operate pooled trusts, using the same federal rule that allows first-party trusts. A pooled trust can hold your child’s own money, or money you leave them.
Joining a pooled trust typically costs far less than building a standalone trust. Enrollment fees commonly run from a few hundred dollars up to about $1,000. A custom-drafted trust costs thousands more at most firms. The nonprofit also charges an ongoing management fee, usually a small percentage of the account balance each year.
The trade-off is control. You do not choose the trustee. Your child’s account is managed the same way as every other account in the pool, following the nonprofit’s own rules for distributions. For a smaller amount of money, that trade-off is often worth the lower cost. The same is true for a family with no trusted person to serve as trustee. For a larger inheritance, most families want more control, and a standalone trust gives them that, even at a higher price.
What’s Included in the Flat Fee at The Hive Law
The $6,500 flat fee covers everything needed to set up a special needs trust that protects your child’s benefits, not just a signed document.
The trust document itself meets the federal SSI and Medicaid rules for a special needs trust. It names the right kind of trustee. It sets the distribution standards that fit your child’s situation. Generic online trust forms do not meet these federal requirements, and a mistake here can cost your child their benefits. A special needs trust is one type of irrevocable trust The Hive Law builds.
A trustee planning session is part of the fee. This trust can run for decades, so choosing the right trustee matters more here than for most other estate planning documents. Melissa walks through the options: a family member, a professional trustee, or a pooled trust, and what each one means for your family.
A funding guidance session is also included. It explains which assets can go into the trust and how to retitle them. It also covers what to tell any family member who plans to leave your child money directly, instead of through the trust.
The flat fee does not include the ongoing costs covered in the next section. Those continue every year the trust stays open.
Ongoing Costs After the Trust Is Signed
Signing a special needs trust is not the end of the cost. The trust becomes its own separate taxpayer once it is funded, the same as any irrevocable trust. That brings real ongoing costs.
Annual tax preparation is one of them. The trust needs its own EIN. It typically files a Form 1041 federal income tax return each year. CPA fees for this usually run $300 to $800 per year.
Trustee fees are another cost, if you use a professional trustee. A family member serving as trustee often serves for free, or for a small fee the family sets. A professional or corporate trustee typically charges 1% to 2% of the trust’s balance each year.
Distribution management takes ongoing care. Every payment the trustee makes has to be handled carefully. Paid the wrong way, a payment can count as income to your child and reduce their SSI check. A trustee who is not confident managing this may need outside help from a special needs planner.
These ongoing costs are the same for a standalone trust or a pooled trust. A pooled trust’s nonprofit management fee usually replaces a separate trustee fee.
What Happens If You Don’t Set One Up
Georgia Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid both limit how much a person can own. In 2026, that limit is $2,000 in countable resources for one person. An inheritance can push your child over that limit. So can a settlement. So can a modest savings account left directly to them. The limit applies the day the money arrives.
Going over the limit does not just pause benefits for a month. Your child stays ineligible for SSI, worth up to $994 a month in 2026. Your child also stays ineligible for Medicaid. Both stay paused until the extra money is spent back down below $2,000. A child who depends on Medicaid for medical care or day programs can be hit hard by this. Losing that coverage, even for a short time, can matter more than the inheritance itself.
An ABLE account protects up to $100,000 without affecting SSI, and it does not require a trust. But it caps total contributions at $20,000 a year from all sources combined, and it is only available if the disability began before a specific age. For most inheritances and larger gifts, an ABLE account does not have enough room. A special needs trust is what actually protects money at that scale.
Is a Special Needs Trust Worth the Cost?
Compare the $6,500 flat fee to what happens without one. A child who loses SSI and Medicaid because of an inheritance can go without $994 a month in income and lose medical coverage until the money is spent down. For many families, the trust is the cheaper outcome by a wide margin.
A special needs trust makes the most sense in three situations:
- You plan to leave your child more than the ABLE account’s contribution limits allow.
- A family member other than you also wants to leave your child money.
- Your child has already received a settlement or inheritance directly and needs a first-party trust to protect it now.
It makes less sense on its own in two situations:
- The amount involved is small enough that a pooled trust’s lower enrollment fee covers the same protection.
- An ABLE account alone covers what you plan to leave them.
A free strategy call is the right place to sort out which option fits your family.
