Rules about trusts

A trust is when someone called a "trustee" manages your inheritance for you. A trustee can also be an organization like a bank or a community organization.

ODSP does not count an inheritance of up to $100,000 as an asset if the money is in a trust. The trust must be setup:

• according to ODSP rules, and
• within 6 months of when you get the inheritance.

ODSP does not count an inheritance of more than $100,000 as an asset if the money is put in a "discretionary trust" or "Henson trust". This means that the trustee gets to decide when to pay you and how much. This kind of trust must be set up in the will of the person who gives you the inheritance.

ODSP considers payments from a trust to be gifts. So the rules about gifts apply to payments from trusts.