‘I’d named my autistic son in my will – I didn’t realise that would only cause problems’

In this extract from her book, Rhiannon Gogh says parents often aren’t aware specialist planning is needed if you leave money to a vulnerable dependant

As parents to an autistic son, my husband and I found it hard to accept his diagnosis. Developmental milestones were missed, and the difference between Tristan and others became stark. It could not be ignored, denied or explained away – our beautiful son was profoundly autistic.

Tristan was offered a place at a school for children with autism, and every Wednesday morning for a year, I was invited into the school to learn how to interact, play and communicate with our boy. It helped me understand what his future might look like. I could see that he might never talk, work, drive a car or have his own family – he could be dependent on us for the rest of his life.