When a special needs parent dies, their child's plan doesn't. 586-803-8500
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Maria R. Messina Wiersma, Esq.

Meet Maria R. Messina Wiersma, Esq.

Your child's future shouldn't live only in your head.

You know the routines. The relationships. The benefits. The appointments. The things that bring comfort—and the things that can turn an ordinary day upside down.

You may have a will or trust. But the question keeping you awake is bigger:

Will the people who come after me know how to protect my child's life—not simply manage an inheritance?

Maria R. Messina Wiersma helps families turn what they know, manage, and worry about into a Fuller Life™ Plan built around the person who matters most: their child.

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She understands disability planning as an attorney–and as a sibling.

As the sibling of a person with a disability, Maria has seen firsthand what changes when a person has informed advocates, access to appropriate services, and people who understand the whole picture. She has also seen how much responsibility families quietly carry while trying to prepare for a future they cannot completely control.

That experience led Maria to devote her legal career to helping individuals with disabilities, older adults, and their families. It also shapes the way she works:

"Maria begins by understanding the person—not by reaching for a form."

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She has a career devoted to disability and elder-law advocacy.

✓Juris Doctor, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

✓Board service with The Arc Michigan and The Arc of Macomb County

✓Active member and past chair, State Bar of Michigan Elder Law and Disability Rights Section

✓Frequent speaker on legal and advocacy issues

✓Michigan Lawyers Weekly "Up & Coming Lawyers" class of 2017

And having a little fun, too.

✓Outside the office, Maria enjoys cooking, camping, crafting, and spending time with family and friends.

✓She is also a devoted board game competitor. "Devoted," in this case, may be the diplomatic word.

What choosing Maria and Fuller will feel like.
From carrying everything alone to having a clear way forward.

You are heard before you are advised.

The conversation begins with your child and your family—not a generic legal checklist.

Complicated decisions become clearer.

Maria explains what matters in understandable terms and helps you see the next decision.

The pieces begin working as one plan.

The legal documents, benefits, people, responsibilities, and family priorities are considered together.

You know what happens next.

The future becomes a defined planning process rather than one enormous question resting on your shoulders.

The Problem Maria Solves

THE PROBLEM

The person who knows everything cannot be the only plan.

A will or trust may address the assets. It does not automatically transfer the knowledge, judgment, and coordination your child's life depends on.

Most special needs parents become the keeper of hundreds of details no legal document captures automatically.

The things you know:

Which benefits must be protected

●

Who understands your child—and who does not

●

What a good day looks like

●

Which decisions require extra care

●

What gives your child comfort, dignity, purpose, and belonging

●

What you hope will remain true when you can no longer oversee everything yourself

A generic estate plan may distribute the money, but it may not preserve the knowledge, judgment, and coordination your child's life depends on.

THE SOLUTION

Maria helps build the legal plan around your child's life.

Working with Maria and Fuller means moving through a clear process that connects the person, the legal documents, the future decision-makers, and the ongoing responsibilities.

The plan we build:

1

We Learn Your Child's World

Maria listens for the needs, routines, relationships, resources, and priorities that make the plan personal.

2

We Build the Legal Plan

Our team develops a structure designed to protect benefits and give future decision-makers direction.

3

We Make Sure It Works—Then Keep It Working

The plan is treated as an ongoing responsibility, not a one-time stack of documents.

The goal is not simply to hand you a binder of documents. The goal is to build a plan that gives future decision-makers something meaningful to follow.

>>>>>

"A trust document without a care plan is a guess with legal formatting."

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The Fuller Life™ Plan

This is what it actually takes to replace you.

Not a document.
A living plan — built specifically for your child, tested before it's needed,
and actively maintained for their entire lifetime.
Three phases. One plan. Your child is protected whether you're here or not.

1

Phase One

We Learn Your Child's World.

Everything we build starts here.

Maria begins with your child's needs, relationships, routines, resources, and the future you want to help make possible. Before a single document is drafted, she builds a complete picture of your child's life. Medical needs. Financial situation. The benefits they depend on. The people in their corner. The gaps that put them at risk.

This is why our plans work when others don't — because ours are built around your real child, not a generic trust template.

2

Phase Two

We Build the Legal Plan

The trust is drafted. The lifetime team is in place.

Maria and our team draft your child's trust documents built on real decisions about your real child — not templates pulled off a shelf. Advocacy Inc. — a nonprofit, founded in 2005 by Michele Fuller — is established as a professional administrator from day one.

The same team that builds your child's plan is the team that runs it.
No strangers. No handoffs.

3

Phase Three

We Make Sure It Works — Then Keep It Working

The plan runs for your child's entire life. Whether you're here or not.

Before you're gone, we walk through the plan together — testing every scenario, confirming it holds before it's ever needed. You leave knowing the plan works.

After that, Advocacy Inc. actively maintains the plan for your child's entire lifetime. Benefits monitored. Changes flagged. Annual deep review.
This is a lifetime relationship — not a transaction.

One certainty you've never had before: When you're gone, the plan keeps going.

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You carry your child's world today.
Let's build the plan that can carry it forward.

Your child is more than a beneficiary. Their future requires more than a trust document. Maria and the Fuller Special Needs Law team can help you begin building a Fuller Life™ Plan centered on your child's life, dignity, and future.

Schedule a Fuller Life Plan Session

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