Two-lifetime planning for families with a loved one with a disability.
Fee-only, flat-fee fiduciary in Greensboro, NC, serving the Triad, Triangle, and families nationwide.
Special Needs Trusts, ABLE accounts, SSI and Medicaid coordination, and answers to the questions families ask most: who manages the trust, who knows the plan, and what happens when you’re not here.
Get Started Read the Special Needs GuideFlat-fee: one transparent annual price based on complexity, not portfolio size
Fiduciary: legally required to act in your best interest — no commissions, no hidden incentives
Tax-focused: year-round bracket management, Roth windows, IRMAA modeling, and asset location
Special needs expertise: SNT coordination, ABLE accounts, SSI/Medicaid monitoring, two-lifetime planning
Where we serve: Triad and Triangle in person — virtual nationwide
We solve for complexity, not just investments.
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Coordination Chaos
The problem: Your CPA, attorney, trustees, and advisor don’t talk—leaving you stuck as the exhausting go-between.
Our fix: We do “The Legwork.” We coordinate your professional team and sync tax and estate strategies so details don’t fall through the cracks.
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The Tax Blindspot
The problem: Most families pay far more in taxes over their lifetime than they ever needed to—not from bad decisions, but from planning that only looks backward.
Our fix: Proactive, year-round tax planning designed to help reduce lifetime tax drag—so opportunities aren’t missed and surprises don’t show up later.
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Two-Lifetime Planning (Special Needs)
The problem: What happens to your loved one when you’re not here? Who coordinates the finances, manages the trust, and makes sure the right people know what to do?
Our fix: A durable plan for two lifetimes—Special Needs Trust and Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) coordination, successor readiness, a living Letter of Intent, and clearly defined roles for trustees, caregivers, and professionals to carry your family’s intent forward. Read the Special Needs Financial Planning Guide →
Who We Serve
Special needs families are the heart of our practice. Our depth in benefits, trusts, and coordination serves every family we work with.
Families Navigating Special Needs
Two-lifetime planning, Special Needs Trust coordination, ABLE accounts, SSI and Medicaid monitoring, DAC benefits planning, and successor readiness. We protect your loved one’s quality of life while aligning attorneys, trustees, and caregivers.
Read the Special Needs Financial Planning Guide →Tax-Focused Families with Complex Situations
Working professionals, retirees, and pre-retirees: equity compensation, Roth conversion windows, Social Security and IRMAA timing, and guardrail-based income planning. The same coordination depth special needs requires.
Retirement & Tax Planning
Why Families Choose Legs Financial
Two-Lifetime Planning
A durable plan for your lifetime and your loved one’s. Successor trustee readiness, a living Letter of Intent, and clearly defined roles so the plan keeps working when you’re not the one carrying it.
Trust & Benefit Coordination
Special Needs Trusts, ABLE accounts, SSI and Medicaid eligibility, DAC benefits, and the funding strategy that ties them together. We handle the financial side so your attorney’s legal work and your benefits counselor’s work stay clean.
Flat-Fee, Fee-Only Fiduciary
Our fee is based on planning complexity, not portfolio size. No commissions, no AUM minimums. When we recommend funding a trust, paying down debt, or holding cash, it’s because the analysis supports it.
Coordinated with Your Team
We do not draft trust documents, prepare tax returns, or apply for benefits. We coordinate them. Your attorneys, CPAs, trustees, and benefits counselors stay in their lanes; we make sure the work fits together.
What we don’t do
We coordinate; we do not replace.
- Draft trust documents, wills, or any legal instruments
- Prepare or file tax returns
- Apply for benefits on a family’s behalf
- Sell insurance or investment products
Your attorneys, CPAs, trustees, and benefits counselors stay in their lanes. We make sure the work fits together.
Michael Davis, CFP® ChSNC®
Professional designations and memberships. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
What is special needs financial planning?
Special needs financial planning coordinates the financial side of caring for a family member with a disability. It includes Special Needs Trust funding, ABLE account strategy, SSI and Medicaid eligibility monitoring, DAC benefits planning, and the long view: who manages the trust, who knows the plan, and what happens across two lifetimes.
What is the difference between a Special Needs Trust and an ABLE account?
A Special Needs Trust (SNT) is a legal arrangement that holds assets for a person with a disability without affecting needs-based benefits like SSI and Medicaid. An ABLE account is a tax-advantaged savings account for a person whose disability began before age 46, allowing them to save and spend on qualified disability expenses. The two work together: SNTs handle larger, longer-term assets; ABLE accounts handle day-to-day flexibility. Many families use both.
When should families start special needs planning?
Earlier than most families think. The most consequential planning decisions, ABLE eligibility, DAC qualification, beneficiary designations, and asset titling, are time-sensitive and shaped by what happens before a child turns 18, 22, or 26. Families who start in their 40s and 50s have far more options than those who wait until retirement.
What is flat-fee financial planning?
Flat-fee financial planning charges a single, transparent fee for comprehensive advice—rather than a percentage of your investment accounts. At Legs Financial, the flat fee is based on planning complexity, not portfolio size, so our guidance stays objective whether we recommend investing, paying down debt, or holding cash.
What is “The Legwork” in financial planning?
The Legwork is the work we do between meetings to keep a complex plan moving—so the right people talk, the right steps happen, and nothing gets lost at the handoffs. It’s the follow-through that turns a financial plan into financial progress.
Ready to build your family’s two-lifetime plan?
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute Trailhead Meeting. No prep needed. We’ll talk through where your family is, where you want to go, and how we typically guide families like yours.
Schedule a Trailhead MeetingWhere We Work
Areas We Serve
We meet face-to-face with clients across the NC Triad and Triangle, and work virtually with families nationwide.
- ✓ Greensboro
- ✓ Winston-Salem
- ✓ High Point
- ✓ Durham
- ✓ Chapel Hill
- ✓ Raleigh
- ✓ Virtual — nationwide