The Social Welfare Department (SWD) announced today (December 28) that a Special Needs Trust Office has been established to provide a trust service for parents/relatives who have family members with special needs.
An SWD spokesman said that the Chief Executive announced in her 2017 Policy Address that the Government has decided to steer the formation of the Special Needs Trust (SNT) with the Director of Social Welfare Incorporated (DSWI) as the Trustee, in order to provide a trust service for the parents who have family members with special needs. The DSWI will manage the assets of deceased parents and disburse the Trust Fund to individual or organisation carers regularly according to the parents' wish, so that the assets of the deceased parents are used in meeting the long term financial needs of their children with special needs.
The Special Needs Trust Office will handle administrative issues directly related to the SNT, including the setting up, management and termination of SNT accounts. The Government has allocated $50 million to set up the Special Needs Trust Office.
The SWD will hold service briefings in January and February 2019 to introduce the service content and application procedures. It is planned to accept service applications from March 2019.
For service information, people may visit the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_rehab/sub_listofserv). For enquiries, please contact the Special Needs Trust Office at 2116 5308 during office hours.
Follow this news feed: East Asia