A Disability After 26? ABLE May Now Be Open to Your Family

Your brother Beto is 41. Three years ago a diagnosis changed his work, then his schedule, then the way the whole family plans a Sunday. Nobody mentioned an ABLE account to him, because the answer used to be no: ABLE accounts were only for people whose disability began before age 26. Since January 1, 2026, that line sits at 46. If a spouse, an adult child, a brother or a tío became disabled in their thirties or early forties, an account that was closed to them may now be open.

What Changed, in Plain Words

An ABLE account is a savings account for a person with a disability. It was created so that saving doesn't cost them their benefits. The rule that kept many people out was the age when the disability began. Under the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which took effect on January 1, 2026, the disability has to have begun before age 46, instead of before age 26. The ABLE National Resource Center and the Social Security Administration's own program manual both describe the change.

Two details matter. First, it's the age when the disability began, not the person's age today. Someone who is 52 now, and whose disability began at 40, can fit. Second, you don't have to be receiving disability benefits to open an account. If the person hasn't received a disability benefit from Social Security since before 46, the plan asks for a signed note from a doctor saying the disability began before 46.

What ABLE Does for SSI and Medicaid

This is the part that matters at the kitchen table. SSI and many Medicaid programs have a low limit on what a person can own. A savings account in their own name can put the check or the health coverage at risk, which is why some families keep money in someone else's name.

An ABLE account is treated differently. Per Social Security, the first $100,000 in the account isn't counted when SSI looks at what the person owns. The ABLE National Resource Center adds that the balance isn't counted for Medicaid either, and that money taken out for qualified disability expenses isn't treated as income. Those expenses cover far more than medical bills: housing, transportation, education, health and everyday living costs.

Some limits are worth knowing before anyone opens anything:

• The yearly limit. For 2026, everyone together can put in up to $20,000: the person, a sister, a friend, a tío.
• Past $100,000. The amount over that counts. If it pushes the person over SSI's limit, the SSI check can stop, though Medicaid continues in states that tie the two together.
• Housing. Paying rent or a mortgage from the account has its own rule: money pulled out for housing that sits unspent into the next month can count.
• One account. A person can have only one ABLE account.
• After the person's death. When the person dies, a state can ask to be repaid for the Medicaid they received from whatever is left, after outstanding disability expenses are paid.

Who This Might Be For at Your Table

Think about anyone in the family whose disability began as an adult: a spouse after a stroke, a brother after an accident, a sister with an illness that came on at 35, a tío whose diagnosis arrived at 43. Many of these relatives were told years ago that ABLE wasn't for them, and that old "no" stuck. It's worth asking again, kindly, and letting them decide. The account is the person's own, so their voice comes first, with any legal representative they already have.

Questions to Ask Before You Open Anything

Bring this list to the conversation, to a benefits counselor or to the plan's help line:

• When, as best we can tell, did the disability begin, and is there a record that shows it?
• Does the person receive SSI, Medicaid or another benefit that has a limit on savings?
• Who would put money in, and how would we keep within the $20,000 for the year?
• What are the monthly bills the account could pay, and which of them are housing?
• Does the family already have a special needs trust, and how should the two work together?
• Has the person had an ABLE account before? Remember, it's one account each.
• What does the state plan charge, and what does it let us invest in?
• Who should the family call if a benefit letter arrives and nobody understands it?

Where to Start This Week

Pick one person in the family and ask one question: "When did this begin?" Then write down the date and who might have a record of it. For the full basics of how ABLE accounts and trusts work together, read our guide to special needs trusts and ABLE accounts. If a young person in the family is about to turn 18, this guide covers that moment. When the account exists, keep track of its balance somewhere the whole family can see it, and talk with a benefits counselor or another professional about how the account should be counted. To see how WiseNest keeps a family's other numbers together, take a look in the demo. This is general education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules and limits change, and every family's situation is different, so confirm the details with your state's ABLE plan or a benefits counselor.