Title 30, Chapter 10, Section 6
( 30-10-6)
(a) The board of trustees shall take all steps necessary to satisfy
all federal and state laws to ensure that the community trust is
qualified to supplement the provision of government funding for
persons with one or more impairments and, where necessary, is
qualified as a tax-exempt entity under the United States Internal
Revenue Code. (b) The documents establishing a community trust shall include and
be limited by the following: (1) To be eligible to participate in a community trust, a life
beneficiary must suffer from one or more impairments as defined in
this chapter; (2) A community trust may accept contributions from any source, so
long as basic eligibility requirements are satisfied, to be held,
administered, managed, invested, and distributed in order to
facilitate the coordination and integration of private financing
for individuals who have one or more impairments, while
maintaining the eligibility of those individuals for government
funding. All contributions and the earnings of a community trust
shall be administered as one trust for purposes of investment and
management of funds. Notwithstanding the administration as one
trust for investment and management, one or more separate accounts
shall be established for each designated life beneficiary. The
net income earned after deducting administrative expenses shall be
credited to the accounts of the life beneficiaries, in proportion
to the amount of the contribution made for each life beneficiary
to the total contributions made for all life beneficiaries; (3) Every donor shall designate a specific person as the life
beneficiary of the contribution made by the donor. In addition,
each donor shall name a cotrustee and a successor or successors to
the cotrustee to act with the trustees of the community trust on
behalf of the designated life beneficiary. A life beneficiary or
the spouse of a life beneficiary shall not be eligible to be a
cotrustee or a successor cotrustee; (4) If a donor designates himself or herself or his or her spouse
as the life beneficiary, then the account of the life beneficiary
shall, regardless of any other provision of this chapter, meet the
following additional conditions: (A) The contribution or contributions of the life beneficiary or
his or her spouse to the community trust shall be irrevocable; (B) The funds remaining in the life beneficiary's account upon
the death of the life beneficiary shall, to the extent such
funds result from contributions made by the life beneficiary or
his or her spouse, be subject to the state reimbursement
requirements of federal laws governing community trusts,
including paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of 42 U.S.C. Section
1396p as applied by this state. Any funds remaining after
satisfaction of such requirements shall be distributed as the
donor has designated in writing, and if there is no such
designation or should distribution to those designated by the
donor be impossible, then to a successor trust; and
(C) Neither the donor nor the donor's spouse shall serve as
cotrustee; (5) During his or her lifetime, any donor who has not designated
himself or herself or his or her spouse as the life beneficiary
may revoke any contribution made to a community trust.
Notwithstanding the first sentence of this paragraph, any donor
may, at any time, voluntarily waive the right to revoke. Upon
revocation, an amount equal to the current fair market value of
the balance of the life beneficiary's account in the community
trust as determined on the date of revocation shall be returned to
the donor; (6) The cotrustee and the trustees annually, or more frequently,
shall agree on the amount of income or principal, or both, to be
used to provide noncash benefits and the nature and type of
benefits to be provided to the life beneficiary. Such permissible
benefits shall include, but not be limited to: more sophisticated
dental, medical, and diagnostic work or treatment than is
otherwise available from public assistance; private rehabilitative
training; supplementary educational aid; entertainment; periodic
vacations and outings; expenditures to foster the interests,
talents, and hobbies of the life beneficiary; and expenditures to
purchase personal property and services which will make life more
comfortable and enjoyable for the life beneficiary but which will
not defeat the life beneficiary's eligibility for public
assistance. Expenditures may include payment of the funeral and
burial costs of the life beneficiary. The trustees and cotrustee
may exercise discretion to make payments from time to time for a
person to accompany the life beneficiary on vacations and outings
and for the transportation of the life beneficiary or of friends
and relatives of the life beneficiary to visit the life
beneficiary. Expenditures shall not be made for the primary
support or maintenance of the life beneficiary, including basic
food, shelter, and clothing if, as a result, the life beneficiary
would no longer be eligible to receive public benefits or
assistance for which the life beneficiary would otherwise be
eligible. Any net income which is not used shall be added
annually to the principal; (7) Any cotrustee may, for good and sufficient reason upon written
notice to the trustees and a determination by the board of
trustees that the reason for the transfer is good and sufficient
or upon the issuance of a notice of termination by the board of
trustees, transfer all of the current fair market value of the
balance of the life beneficiary's account in the trust as
determined on the date of transfer to another trustee to be held
for the sole benefit of the life beneficiary during his or her
life; provided, however, that if such a transfer involves funds
contributed by the life beneficiary or his or her spouse, any
trustee to whom funds are so transferred shall acknowledge in
writing the right of the state to reimbursement as provided in 42
U.S.C. Section 1396p(d)(4). In no event shall a cotrustee be
entitled to transfer only a portion of the current fair market
value of the life beneficiary's account in the trust; (8) If a life beneficiary for whose benefit a contribution has
been made to the trust ceases to be eligible to participate in the
trust, and neither the donor nor the cotrustee revokes or
withdraws the contribution, then the board of trustees may, by
written notice to the donor or cotrustee, terminate the trust as
to such life beneficiary. Upon termination, the board of trustees
shall distribute the fair market value of such life beneficiary's
account in the trust to the person or persons the donor has
designated; provided, however, that if the donor has failed to
designate a person or persons for distribution in this event or if
a distribution to the designated person or persons is impossible,
the board of trustees shall distribute the fair market value of
such life beneficiary's account in the trust to the trustee of the
successor trust to be held, administered, and distributed by the
successor trustee in accordance with the successor trust described
in paragraph (10) of this subsection; (9) Upon the death of the life beneficiary, then an amount equal
to the current fair market value of the balance of the life
beneficiary's account in the trust, as determined on the date of
death, less payment of funeral and burial costs of the life
beneficiary and satisfaction of any lien as provided in paragraph
(4) of this subsection, shall be distributed to the person or
persons the donor has designated; provided, however, that if the
donor has failed to designate a person or persons for distribution
in this event or if a distribution to the designated person or
persons is impossible, the board of trustees shall distribute the
fair market value of such life beneficiary's account to a
successor trust. To the extent this provision must be modified
for the life beneficiary to remain eligible for government
benefits, such modifications shall be made; and (10) The trustee of the successor trust shall hold, administer,
and distribute the principal and income of the successor trust,
in the discretion of the trustee, for the maintenance, support,
health, education, and general well-being of indigent persons
suffering from one or more impairments, recognizing that it is the
purpose of the successor trust to supplement, not replace, any
government benefits for the beneficiary's or beneficiaries' basic
support for which the beneficiary or beneficiaries may be eligible
and to improve the quality of the beneficiary's or beneficiaries'
life by providing him, her, or them with those amenities which
cannot otherwise be provided by public assistance or other
available sources. Permissible expenditures include, but are not
limited to: more sophisticated dental, medical, and diagnostic
work or treatment than is otherwise available from public
assistance; private rehabilitative training; supplementary
educational aid; entertainment; periodic vacations and outings;
expenditures to foster the interests, talents, and hobbies of the
beneficiary or beneficiaries; and expenditures to purchase
personal property and services which will make life more
comfortable and enjoyable for the beneficiary or beneficiaries but
which will not defeat his, her, or their eligibility for public
assistance. Expenditures may include payment of the funeral and
burial costs of the beneficiary or beneficiaries. The trustee of
the successor trust, in his or her discretion, may make payments
from time to time for a person to accompany a beneficiary on
vacations and outings and for the transportation of a beneficiary
or of friends or relatives of a beneficiary to visit a
beneficiary. Any undistributed income of the successor trust shall
be added to the principal from time to time. Expenditures shall
not be made for the primary support or maintenance of a
beneficiary, including basic food, shelter, and clothing, if, as a
result, a beneficiary would no longer be eligible to receive
public benefits or assistance for which such beneficiary would
otherwise be eligible. (c) The nonprofit organization administering the community trust may
receive a distribution of trust assets as payment for services
rendered to the life beneficiary or if the assets distributed are
used solely for the benefit of the life beneficiary. The nonprofit
organization administering a successor trust may receive a
distribution of trust assets as payment for services rendered to a
beneficiary or if the assets are used solely for the benefit of a
beneficiary. |