Amy Tessler
Amy is mom to Scott, 29, who is a CalABLE account owner on the Autistic Spectrum. Scott lives with a roommate in a two-bedroom apartment at Sunflower Hill, a residential community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Scott primarily uses his ABLE account funds to pay for meals at restaurants and social activities. It allows him to be financially responsible for his day-to-day needs.
In addition to being wife, mom, guardian and conservator, Amy serves as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Dale Law Firm. It was in this role where she first learned about the ABLE NRC and has been serving as an ABLE NRC ambassador since 2019. Amy is an expert in how Special Needs Trusts and ABLE accounts can be used together. Amy’s son, Scott, has a third-party Special Needs Trust which is primarily used for savings. Scott lives as independently as possible with a strong support system, including caregivers. He participates in an adult day program and a wide variety of other activities, organized by Sunflower Hill, Special Olympics, and other recreational programs in the community. Amy’s son needs help managing money and paying his bills. Amy believes it would not be prudent to give him access to a large amount of money, so having the ABLE account allows him to gain some basic financial skills. Choosing an ABLE plan that had a debit card option was important for this reason. Amy states that by Scott having an ABLE account, it allows for easy transfers from the trust into the ABLE account.
Spotlights and Links to ABLE Activities
Special needs trusts bring peace of mind to aging parents | CNN
April 2019 AchievABLE Newsletter – ABLE National Resource Center (ablenrc.org)