What is a self-funded trust?
A trust is a way of arranging an ownership interest in property. Under a trust, a person who owns property, called the grantor, gives the property to another person called the trustee, to manage and use for the benefit of a person named in the trust as the beneficiary. The trust contains instructions about how the grantor wants the property to be invested and used. The trustee holds title to the property, but has a strong legal duty to use the property only as the trust directs. The beneficiary is not the legal owner of the property, but has the legal right to enforce the terms of the trust. There can be one or more grantors, trustees, and beneficiaries of a trust. These different roles are not exclusive. A self-funded trust is a trust that contains property that belonged to the beneficiary before the trust was created. In other words, the beneficiary is also the grantor. For example: Richard is an adult with a disability, and relies on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.
