Adult Sibling Toolkit: A Planning Guide

Sponsored by The Arc of Snohomish County and the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council

A guide for siblings of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Washington State

Many siblings feel a great deal of anxiety when it comes to planning for their sibling’s future.

What will you need to know? What will your legal and financial responsibilities be? Many people find that making a plan with their family helps to alleviate some of that anxiety.

Here’s how this guide can help:

Gather important people. Sit down with your parents, sibling, and other family members or important support people.
Be honest. Talk about and decide what everyone’s role should be. You might want to identify one person who will take the lead and be the “go-to” support person for your sibling, or you might want to share responsibilities evenly. Try to be honest about what you are willing and able to do, and allow others to express themselves, too.
Gather paperwork. Find important documents like guardianship paperwork, your sibling’s identification, medical information, etc. You can keep copies of them or identify some way to keep them organized and know where they are. If documents are missing, make a plan to get them.
Be thorough. Go through the guide together as a family and support network. You don’t have to do it all at once, but try to fill out everything to the best of your ability. It might help to set a date once a year to go through and update information.
Identify support. How did it feel to start this process? Probably a bit overwhelming, but hopefully you will feel better having a plan. Now’s the time to identify what support you need as a sibling. You can find resources in each section of this toolkit to help get you started.