OK, interesting. So it sounds like a way to help validate that the money is for 'needs' not 'wants'.
-ERD50
Well, actually no because the person receiving SSI disability/Medicaid gets penalized if the trust (or anyone else) pays for any housing related expenses or food. But that penalty is consistent with the philosophy of SSI which is meant to cover the basics, such as food and housing. (How anyone can actually live on $700 a month and not be homeless is for another day. My friend has been on the housing list for 7+ years but she is very low priority as a childless adult.)
The TrueLink debit card and attached account limits spending while giving the user some autonomy. If $500 per month is put into the TrueLink account from the trust account, then that's all the beneficiary can spend on her own. The trustee owns the TrueLink account and can block categories of transactions to control where the money is spent. TrueLink advertises the card for special needs trust beneficiaries, recovering addicts, and the elderly. The only fee is a flat $10 per month.
Technically, the trust can purchase virtually anything but, as the trustee, I have to find the balance between current consumption and making her money last the rest of her lifetime. Housing is the most difficult issue because she lives in the Seattle area where housing costs are astronomical.
The beneficiary in the original post is in a much better situation in that she was given a house. But, as all homeowners know, houses can be money pits and repairs, taxes, utilities, normal maintenance, etc. could be a real drain on her trust. Big bucks when it's time for a new roof or furnace. My beneficiary wants a 'place of her own' but she could end up house poor unless she moves away from friends and family to a much lower cost area.
And the beneficiary in the original post has to be careful that housing expenses paid by the trust (because she can't afford them) don't zero out her SSI (if she is getting any) and disrupt her Medicaid. Different states have different policies regarding the linkage of SSI and Medicaid. If she has to take a $300 max monthly penalty, that could be more than her SSI. In some states, if there is no SSI income, the person becomes ineligible for Medicaid. They need to be careful. I would spend some money on an elder law attorney that specializes, not dabbles, in Special Needs Trusts. But read the NOLO book first! Educate yourself as much as possible and use the attorney to answer questions or clarify things you don't understand. The whole thing will give you a headache but it was important to me to help a friend preserve the trust assets so she doesn't end up homeless at 85.