Ask most family members assisting a disabled adult if they’ve heard of an ABLE account. Most will say yes. Ask them what an ABLE account is, and many will respond, “We’re not sure.”

An ABLE account is not a supplemental needs trust. But it is a vital adjunct to one or more supplemental needs trusts.

An ABLE account is a bank account funded with cash. An ABLE account may offer savings, checking and investment options. It may have a debit card linked to it.

The person with a disability, and/or family or friends, may contribute to the ABLE account.

If the person with a disability has capacity to do so, he/she may be the account owner and direct investments and spending.

An ABLE beneficiary may only have one ABLE account.

An ABLE account gets opened online. Delaware’s ABLE account can be opened through: https://savewithable.com/de/home.html.

The main reasons an ABLE account are a necessary part of a special needs plan are:

1) subject to limits, an ABLE is a permitted place to “park” funds that exceed the resource limit for a special needs beneficiary, and

2) subject to requirements, distributions coming out of the ABLE account are not subject to the strict In-Kind Support and Maintenance rules that apply for recipients of Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”).

The ABLE Act is both federal and state legislation.

The federal ABLE Act (Achieving a Better Life Experience, 26 U.S.C. § 529A) was signed into law on December 19, 2014 as part of the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, amending Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986.

Delaware’s version of the ABLE Act is located at 16 Del. C. Chapter 96A: “Delaware Achieving a Better Life Experience Savings Account”.

The ABLE account is similar to a 529 plan: Investment growth is not taxable when the funds are used to pay for qualified disability expenses (QDEs). 

QDEs is a liberal statutorily defined term: it includes education, housing, transportation, even “basic living expenses.”

Contributions are subject to annual and cumulative limits and are treated as gifts for federal gift tax purposes.

Annual Limit: Each year the annual contribution limit is linked to the annual gift tax exclusion amount. In 2026, the annual contribution limit is $20,000. By operation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in 2026 the annual contribution limit is $20,000 instead of $19,000.

Cumulative Limit: Up to $100,000 in an ABLE account is excluded from the SSI resource limit. Only the amount over $100,000 in an ABLE account counts as an SSI resource. If SSI is suspended due to the ABLE account balance being over $100,000, Medicaid eligibility continues during the suspension as long as the individual remains otherwise eligible. (POMS) SI 01130.740.

There is a disability onset age, but it is better now than it was under prior law.



The disability of an ABLE account beneficiary must have begun before age 46. That age just increased from 26 to 46 on January 1, 2026, thanks to the Secure Act 2.0 (signed 2022).

A Social Security Administration determination of disability is not required. Self-certification with physician evidence of the same level of disability is also accepted.

Contributions deposited into an ABLE account do not replace benefits provided through private insurance, the State Medicaid program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Social Security Disability Insurance, the beneficiary’s employment and other sources. Instead, ABLE funds supplement these benefits.

States vary on whether, when the ABLE beneficiary dies, the State may seek repayment from the account for Medicaid benefits the State paid for the benefits. Thankfully, Delaware current law prohibits the State payback:

16 Del. C. § 9707A(c): “Upon the death of a designated beneficiary, no agency or instrumentality of the State shall seek payment under § 529A(f) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 529A(f)] from the account or its proceeds for benefits provided to a designated beneficiary.”

These and other benefits make an ABLE account a vital tool that accompanies a supplemental needs trust. Distributions that violate SSI rules coming out of a trust are exempt from the same rules coming out of an ABLE account. That is why often a trustee distributes from a trust to the ABLE account, rather than to or for the benefit of the beneficiary. Due to its annual and total contribution limits, an ABLE account is not the total solution as it fills fast at $20,000 per year. But it is a valuable tool that is part of the solution.