December 2025

A Productive Year and Looking Ahead

Thank you, Friends, for a year of growth in 2025. We love coming to work each day. We are grateful for the trust you place in us for your yourselves and for your most vulnerable family members. Your needs are complex. Your loved ones with special needs have particularly complex legal issues.

We hone our expertise, constantly, to prepare ourselves to serve you with the most current legal knowledge, best practices, and experience and judgment. We make it a requirement for ourselves to earn admission to the most advanced membership organizations specializing in special needs planning and elder law, all so we can be surrounded by the highest-level practitioners and have access to the most accurate and current information-sharing and thinking.

To that end, 2025 marked some key accomplishments:

∙ Kylee was admitted to the Special Needs Alliance, the nation’s most trusted invitation-only membership organization of Special Needs Planning Attorneys: www.specialneedsalliance.org. Kylee and Bill are the only Special Needs Alliance members in the State of Delaware, as well as the only Certified Elder Law Attorneys in Delaware.

∙ Bill attended the Spring Meeting of the Special Needs Alliance in March 2025, information-sharing with other SNA members and learning about current trends.

∙ Bill and Kylee both are active members of Special Needs Alliance Committees: Bill in the SNA Public Policy Committee, and Kylee in the SNA Strategic Partnerships Committee.

∙ Bill has an article pending for publication in the Special Needs Alliance.

∙ Bill is a member of The Arc of Delaware’s Public Policy Committee.

∙ Kylee again attended The Arc of Delaware’s Annual Meeting.

∙ Kylee attended the Stetson Annual Special Needs Conference, widely known as the seminal special needs planning conference in the nation.

∙ Kylee continued her membership in the Delaware Senior Resource Network, an invitation-only membership organization for professionals serving seniors in Delaware.

∙ Kylee and Bill expanded their network of trusted professionals for individuals with special needs, including Life Care Planners and Trustees. The holistic approach of Special Needs Planning and Elder Law requires the attorney to have a rolodex of tried-and-true professionals the attorney trusts to serve the disabled clients to implement the legal plan.

∙ We significantly expanded our number of Personal Injury settlement trusts. Bill continued to build his reputation as the go-to practitioner for achieving Chancery Court and Superior Court approval of settlements where required, a process unknown to many of even the most experienced of Delaware practitioners.

∙ We saw an increase in parents whose children with disabilities are turning 18. We helped these families prepare powers of attorney where possible and otherwise petition for guardianship in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

∙ Kylee studied in depth, taught on, and was interviewed by Delaware Live Online on Delaware’s Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act of 2023, which became effective September 30, 2025.

∙ Kylee continued her substantive work on the DMOST Steering Committee as the Delaware State Bar Association Elder Law Section’s delegate. The DMOST Committee’s work is inextricably intertwined with the new Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act.

∙ Kylee has been called upon by the DMOST Committee to present to the Committee’s broad constituents.

∙ Kylee presented to the Delaware State Bar Association Estates and Trusts Section on the Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act.

∙ Bill and Kylee both were voted as Top Lawyers by Delaware Today by their peers.

∙ Bill was named again to the Super Lawyers in Delaware.

∙ Our practice thrived. Our Special Needs practice grew exponentially.

Some projects we’re looking forward to in 2026:

∙ Kylee will present a Continuing Legal Education Seminar open to all Delaware attorneys on the Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act in early 2026.

∙ Bill will present a Continuing Legal Education Seminar open to all Delaware attorneys on Delaware’s new Transfer on Death Deed Act.

∙ Bill and Kylee will co-present a Continuing Legal Education Seminar on Social Security Issues.

∙ Kylee and Bill will present several consumer presentations on the Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act and healthcare decision making.

∙ Kylee and Bill will attend the Spring Meeting of the Special Needs Alliance in March 2026.

Most of all, we look forward not only to serving you, but to striving to serve you better each day - through highest level learning and best practices.

Thank you, Friends, again. Enjoy the holidays and Happy New Year!

Bill Erhart and Kylee Read

Wednesday, December 24th until January 2nd, 2026.
Monday, January 5th, 2026 office will reopen

7 New Social Security Changes for 2026

Those who are receiving Social Security benefits get a 2.8% raise in 2026

By REBECCA ROSENBERG

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) announces its annual changes to the Social Security program for the following year every October. The 2026 changes consist of a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the monthly benefit amount, an increase in the maximum earnings subject to the Social Security tax, and a rise in disability benefits.

Social Security Administration. "2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet."

Key Takeaways

Those who are receiving Social Security benefits get a 2.8% raise in 2026.
Social Security tax rates for 2026 are 6.2% for employees and 12.4% for the self-employed.
It takes $1,890 to earn a Social Security credit in 2026.
The average monthly Social Security benefit for all retired workers will be $2,071 in 2026.

1. COLA Increase

More than 72.5 million Social Security recipients will receive a 2.8% COLA increase to their monthly benefits in 2026.

The adjustment helps benefits keep pace with inflation and is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

IMPORTANT

The average monthly Social Security benefit for all retired workers is $2,071 based on the increase for 2026, up from $2,015.1

Social Security Administration. "2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet."

2. Higher Maximum Monthly Payout

The youngest age at which individuals can claim Social Security retirement benefits is 62. Claiming before full retirement age (FRA) will result in a permanently reduced payout, however.

Congress passed a law in 1983, gradually raising the full retirement age from 65 to 67. The phase-in ended with people born in 1960 or later, whose full retirement age is 67.

Those who wait to claim Social Security past full retirement age earn delayed retirement credits and collect more. The maximum payout of a worker retiring at full retirement age will be $4,152 in 2026.1

Earning income above a certain threshold will temporarily reduce your benefits before your full retirement age. That threshold is $24,480 in 2026, up from $23,400 in 2025. You can work as much as you like, and your benefits won't be reduced when you reach full retirement age. You'll still receive your full Social Security benefits.

FAST FACT

Individuals can earn an additional 8% of their benefit per year up until age 70 by delaying retirement.

3. Earnings Limits Increase

All or part of their benefits will be temporarily withheld, depending on how much they earn, for recipients who work while collecting Social Security benefits. Before reaching full retirement age, Recipients who haven't reached full retirement age can earn up to $23,400 in 2025, increasing to $24,480 in 2026. One dollar will be deducted from their payment for every $2 that exceeds the limit.

Individuals who reach full retirement age in 2026 can earn $65,160, an increase from $62,160 in 2025. Your Social Security benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $3 you earn over the limit in the months before you reach your full retirement age. No benefits will be withheld if you continue to work after you reach full retirement age.

4. Taxable Earnings Increase

Employees paid the 6.2% Social Security tax on income of up to $176,100 in 2025. Their employers matched that payment. The maximum taxable earnings increase to $184,500 in 2026. The Social Security tax rate remains at 6.2% and 12.4% for the self-employed.

5. Disability Benefits and Income Thresholds Increased

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides income for those who can no longer work due to a disability. People in the United States who are receiving Social Security disability benefits receive a 2.8% increase in 2026.

Disabled workers receive on average $1,586 per month in 2025. This will increase to $1,630 in 2026. Disabled workers with a spouse and one or more children can expect an average of $2,937 in 2026. Blind workers have a cap of $2,830 per month in 2026.1

6. Higher Credit Earning Threshold

You must earn at least 40 credits or a maximum of four per year over your working life to qualify for Social Security benefits. The amount it takes to earn a single credit goes up each year.

It will take $1,890 in earnings per credit as of 2026.

Click here to finish reading.

*By the National Elder Law Foundation

Accredited by the American Bar Association

www.eaels.com