A True Link card is a prepaid Visa card that lets a family member or other trusted person help manage how someone else spends their money. The person managing the card loads the funds, sets rules for where, when, and how it can be used, and monitors purchases. The cardholder can use it wherever Visa is accepted, within those rules. It’s designed for people who need help managing or protecting their money, such as an adult child with a disability or a parent with memory impairment.
How it works: two roles
The card is built around two roles:
The administrator can be the conservator, a trustee, or a family member. The administrator loads funds onto the card, sets the spending rules, and monitors activity.
The cardholder is your loved one. They use the card to make purchases within the rules, while the administrator manages the settings.
Your loved one gets the independence of having and using their own card, while you keep oversight and protection behind the scenes. Because it’s a prepaid card, it’s funded with money loaded onto it, not tied to a line of credit. It’s issued through a partner bank, Sunrise Banks, N.A.
The spending controls
The spending controls are the main feature. Through its spending monitor, an administrator can customize how the card behaves, including:
Allowing or blocking categories of merchants: For example, permitting groceries and pharmacies while blocking categories you want to avoid.
Controlling ATM and cash access: Limiting or blocking cash withdrawals, which can be a way money gets lost or taken.
Limiting the card to specific stores, or setting spending limits for certain stores or types of purchases.
Real time alerts and transaction history, viewable through an app, so the administrator can see spending as it happens.
The rules can be tailored to the individual, looser in some areas and tighter in others, and adjusted over time.
Who it can help
The card can fit situations like these:
Adults with developmental disabilities, who may want the independence of their own card with some oversight behind it. This includes adults with a limited conservatorship.
People with dementia or other cognitive decline, where protection from scams and financial exploitation becomes a concern.
Conservatees, where the conservator of the estate needs to manage and document spending.
Special needs trust beneficiaries, where the card helps the trustee make sure the beneficiary is spending in ways that won’t negatively affect their SSI.
Why it can help in a conservatorship
If you’re a conservator of the estate, a True Link card can help in two ways:
Protection with dignity. You can let your conservatee carry and use a card while limiting where and how the money can be spent, which preserves their sense of independence.
Clean recordkeeping. As conservator of the estate, you have to account to the court for every dollar. The card’s transaction history gives you a record of spending to support those accountings.
Using it with a special needs trust
Social Security has guidelines for prepaid cards that a trustee controls (POMS SI 01120.201), and a True Link card can be set up this way. The trustee owns the card account and decides where it can be used, and the beneficiary uses the card. Some spending can still reduce SSI, like cash withdrawals and paying for food or housing, so a trustee may want to turn those off.
Things to know
True Link charges a monthly fee ($12 as of this writing), and your bank or an ATM operator may charge their own fees. It’s worth comparing the cost against other options before you choose.
Let’s make sure your tools fit your situation
A True Link card is one piece of a larger plan. Whether a True Link card is right for your loved one, and how it fits with a conservatorship of the estate, depends on your situation. I’m glad to help you think through the right combination of legal and practical tools. I handle every case personally and serve families throughout Marin, the greater Bay Area, and beyond.
I have no affiliation with True Link and don’t receive anything for mentioning it.
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This article is general information and is not legal, financial, or product advice, and is not an endorsement of any product. Product features and fees change over time — confirm current details with the provider. For guidance on managing a loved one's finances, please consult a qualified attorney.
