Current through 2024 Regular Session legislation effective June 6, 2024
Section 410.730 - Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund; rules(1) The Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund is established, separate and distinct from the General Fund, in the State Treasury. Interest earned, if any, shall inure to the benefit of this fund. The purpose of the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund is to provide a life-care planning option to meet the supplemental service needs of individuals with disabilities by enabling parents, families and others to plan more secure futures for their dependents with disabilities or other named beneficiaries with disabilities without fear of loss of benefits or invasion of trust principal.(2) The State Treasurer shall be custodian of the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund, and the Oregon Department of Administrative Services shall direct payments from the trust fund upon vouchers properly certified by the Director of Human Services.(3) The Director of Human Services may accept money from a self-sufficiency trust described in subsection (8) of this section for deposit in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund pursuant to an agreement with the trust. The Department of Human Services shall maintain separate accounting records in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund for each named beneficiary and shall promptly credit to each account moneys deposited in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund by a self-sufficiency trust described in subsection (8) of this section on behalf of a named beneficiary.(4) The agreement, naming one or more beneficiaries residing in this state who have developmental disabilities, mental illness or physical disabilities or persons otherwise eligible for benefits or services due to disability, shall specify the supplementary care, support or treatment to be provided for each named beneficiary with the moneys deposited in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund.(5) The State Treasurer shall credit interest on the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund to the fund, and the Department of Human Services shall allocate the interest pro rata to the respective accounts of the named beneficiaries of the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund.(6) The moneys in each account together with any accumulated interest on that account shall be expended only to provide supplementary care, support and treatment for the named beneficiary in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The moneys from each account shall not be expended to provide supplementary care, support and treatment unless the named beneficiary is 18 years of age or older or is emancipated, or the parents of the beneficiary have died, or in cases of extreme, unforeseen hardship. If the agreement so provides, the moneys in each account may be expended for purposes other than providing supplementary care, support and treatment upon a showing of extreme, unforeseen hardship. The Department of Human Services shall by rule establish criteria for determining what conditions constitute extreme, unforeseen hardship allowing expenditure of moneys for purposes other than providing supplementary care, support and treatment.(7) In the event that the Director of Human Services determines that the money in the account of a named beneficiary cannot be used for supplementary care, support or treatment of the beneficiary in a manner consistent with the agreement, the remaining money in the account, together with any accumulated interest, shall be promptly returned to the self-sufficiency trust which deposited the money in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund.(8) A nonprofit corporation that is a 501(c)(3) organization under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and that is organized under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, Title 13-B, may establish a self-sufficiency trust for the purpose of providing for supplementary care, support or treatment of one or more persons who have developmental disabilities, mental illness or physical disabilities or persons otherwise eligible for benefits or services due to disability by depositing the proceeds in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund established under subsections (1) to (7) of this section.(9) The receipt by a beneficiary of supplementary care, support or treatment provided with money from the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund shall not in any way reduce, impair or diminish the benefits to which the beneficiary is otherwise entitled by law. No interest in the principal or income of this trust shall be anticipated, assigned or encumbered, or shall be subject to any creditor's claim or to legal process, prior to its actual receipt by the beneficiary. Furthermore, because of the special needs of the beneficiary, no part of the corpus thereof, nor principal nor undistributed income shall be subject to the claims of voluntary or involuntary creditors for the provision of care and services, including residential care, by any public entity, office, department or agency of the State of Oregon or of any other state, or of the United States or any other governmental agency.(10) The Director of Human Services shall serve as the official who implements the provision of care, support or treatment for the beneficiary from moneys maintained in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund in the beneficiary's name. The director shall adopt rules necessary for the administration and the implementation of this subsection. Formerly 412.700; 2007 c. 70, § 183