Text: HF00491 Text: HF00493 Text: HF00400 - HF00499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE FILE 492
1 2
1 3 AN ACT
1 4 RELATING TO SUPPLEMENTAL NEEDS TRUSTS FOR PERSONS WITH
1 5 DISABILITIES.
1 6
1 7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 8
1 9 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 634A.1 DEFINITIONS.
1 10 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
1 11 requires:
1 12 1. "Person with a disability" means a person to whom one
1 13 of the following applies, prior to creation of a trust which
1 14 otherwise qualifies as a supplemental needs trust for the
1 15 person's benefit:
1 16 a. Is considered to be a person with a disability under
1 17 the disability criteria specified in Title II or Title XVI of
1 18 the federal Social Security Act.
1 19 b. Has a physical or mental illness or condition which, in
1 20 the expected natural course of the illness or condition, to a
1 21 reasonable degree of medical certainty, is expected to
1 22 continue for a continuous period of twelve months or more and
1 23 substantially impairs the person's ability to provide for the
1 24 person's care or custody.
1 25 2. "Supplemental needs trust" means an inter vivos or
1 26 testamentary trust created for the benefit of a person with a
1 27 disability and funded by a person other than the trust
1 28 beneficiary or the beneficiary's spouse, and which is declared
1 29 to be a supplemental needs trust in the instrument creating
1 30 the trust. "Supplemental needs trust" shall include, but is
1 31 not limited to, a trust created for the benefit of a person
1 32 with a disability and funded solely with moneys awarded as
1 33 damages in a personal injury case or moneys received in the
1 34 settlement of a personal injury case provided that the trust
1 35 is created within six months of receiving the award or
2 1 settlement, the trust is irrevocable, the beneficiary is not
2 2 named a trustee of the trust, and the instrument creating the
2 3 trust declares the trust to be a supplemental needs trust.
2 4 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 634A.2 SUPPLEMENTAL NEEDS TRUST –
2 5 REQUIREMENTS.
2 6 1. A supplemental needs trust established in compliance
2 7 with this chapter is in keeping with the public policy of this
2 8 state and is enforceable.
2 9 2. A supplemental needs trust established under this
2 10 chapter shall comply with all of the following:
2 11 a. Shall be established as a discretionary trust for the
2 12 purpose of providing a supplemental source for payment of
2 13 expenses which include but are not limited to the reasonable
2 14 living expenses and basic needs of a person with a disability
2 15 only if benefits from publicly funded benefit programs are not
2 16 sufficient to provide adequately for those expenses and needs.
2 17 b. Shall contain provisions which prohibit disbursements
2 18 that would result in replacement, reduction, or substitution
2 19 for publicly funded benefits otherwise available to the
2 20 beneficiary or in rendering the beneficiary ineligible for
2 21 publicly funded benefits. The supplemental needs trust shall
2 22 provide for distributions only in a manner and for purposes
2 23 that supplement or complement the benefits available under
2 24 medical assistance, state supplementary assistance, and other
2 25 publicly funded benefit programs for persons with
2 26 disabilities.
2 27 3. For the purpose of establishing eligibility of a person
2 28 as a beneficiary of a supplemental needs trust, disability may
2 29 be established conclusively by the written opinion of a
2 30 licensed professional who is qualified to diagnose the illness
2 31 or condition, if confirmed by the written opinion of a second
2 32 licensed professional who is also qualified to diagnose the
2 33 illness or condition.
2 34 4. A supplemental needs trust is not enforceable if the
2 35 trust beneficiary becomes a patient or resident after sixty-
3 1 four years of age in a state institution or nursing facility
3 2 for six months or more and, due to the beneficiary's medical
3 3 need for care in an institutional setting, there is no
3 4 reasonable expectation, as certified by the beneficiary's
3 5 attending physician, that the beneficiary will be discharged
3 6 from the facility. For the purposes of this subsection, a
3 7 beneficiary participating in a group residential program is
3 8 not a patient or resident of a state institution or nursing
3 9 facility.
3 10 5. The trust income and assets of a supplemental needs
3 11 trust are considered available to the beneficiary for medical
3 12 assistance or other public assistance program purposes to the
3 13 extent that income and assets are considered available in
3 14 accordance with the methodology applicable to a particular
3 15 program.
3 16 6. A supplemental needs trust is not subject to
3 17 administration in the Iowa district court sitting in probate.
3 18 A trustee of a supplemental needs trust has all powers and
3 19 shall be subject to all the duties and liabilities of a
3 20 trustee as provided in the probate code, except the duty of
3 21 reporting to or obtaining approval of the court.
3 22 7. Notwithstanding the prohibition of the funding of a
3 23 supplemental needs trust by the beneficiary or the
3 24 beneficiary's spouse, a supplemental needs trust may be
3 25 established with the proceeds of back payments made by the
3 26 United States social security administration resulting from a
3 27 judgment regarding the regulatory schemes for determination of
3 28 the disability of a child.
3 29
3 30
3 31
3 32 RON J. CORBETT
3 33 Speaker of the House
3 34
3 35
4 1
4 2 MARY E. KRAMER
4 3 President of the Senate
4 4
4 5 I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
4 6 is known as House File 492, Seventy-seventh General Assembly.
4 7
4 8
4 9
4 10 ELIZABETH ISAACSON
4 11 Chief Clerk of the House
4 12 Approved , 1997
4 13
4 14
4 15
4 16 TERRY E. BRANSTAD
4 17 Governor
Text: HF00491 Text: HF00493 Text: HF00400 - HF00499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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