Who can decide for your child
At 21, the law treats your child as an adult, and a parent’s automatic authority to decide for them ends — whatever their level of need. Putting the right legal authority in place is the first pillar of any plan.
- Your child turns 21: what changes legally — the cliff itself, and what to line up before the birthday.
- Deputyship in Singapore — the court-appointed route to keep deciding for a child who cannot decide for themselves, and the S$40 ADAP window worth circling years ahead.
- LPA for parents — your own (make it first), and whether your child can make one instead of needing deputyship.
How money reaches them as care
Leaving money to a child who cannot manage it is the trap; making it arrive as managed support is the plan. This pillar is about where money lands, and who is allowed to spend it for your child.
- How to leave money to your special-needs child — the money map: a will pointing to a trust, the Special Needs Savings Scheme for your CPF, and your nominations.
- The Special Needs Trust, explained — the subsidised place money can be held and paid out for your child’s care, without waiting on a court.
- CareShield Life and the age-30 rules — the national support that begins at 30, and why the 21–30 years fall to the family.
Where they live and spend their days
When school ends at 18, a different set of services picks up — and places are fewer than the need, so this is a landscape to understand early.
- Adult disability services in Singapore — day activity centres, sheltered workshops and disability homes: what each is, the waitlist reality, and why to sort legal authority before you apply.
- Autism after 18 — the transition out of the SPED years and into adult life.
Where to start
If the whole thing feels like too much to hold at once, it usually is — so do not try. A sensible first pass, in order:
- Make your own LPA, and a simple will that directs your child’s share into a trust. This protects your family the moment it exists.
- Talk to SNTC about a trust and SNSS. These are the pieces that carry the money, and the ones the state does not provide before 30.
- As 21 approaches, sort deputyship — and if your child is at a SPED school, ask about the S$40 ADAP window before it closes.
- Understand the adult services early, and join any waitlists well before the place is needed.
You do not have to finish this to have started it. A will and your own LPA, done this month, already move your family from unprotected to protected. Everything else can follow at its own pace.
Questions parents ask
When should we start planning for our child’s future?
Earlier than feels necessary. Legal authority takes weeks to months, scheme places have queues, and the national supports do not begin until age 30 — so the pieces that carry the years in between only work if they are already in place. Starting in your child’s teens is not too soon.
What is the single most useful first step?
Make your own LPA and a simple will that points your child’s share into a trust. Together they are inexpensive — the LPA is free for citizens from 1 April 2026 — and they protect your family from the moment they exist.
Is there one scheme that covers all of this?
No — and that is much of what makes it feel hard. It is a handful of separate pieces: legal authority, a trust and CPF scheme, and adult services, each run by a different body. This section is the map that holds them together.
We find this overwhelming. Where do we begin?
Begin with one question, not all of them: “who can legally decide for our child, and where does our money land?” The money map and your own LPA answer both, and they are the steadiest place to start.