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General Supplements
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Trusts
Definitions
Collapsible Discretionary Trust
Persons with Disabilities (PWD) designation
Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)

Asset
Any of the following:
- equity in any real or personal property that can be converted to cash
- a beneficial interest in real or personal property held in trust
- cash assets
[see EA Regulation, Section 1 or EAPWD Regulation, Section 1 for legal definition]

Collapsible Discretionary Trust
A discretionary trust where the beneficiary can collapse the trust and gain control of the assets. The ministry treats these trusts in the same way as a Non-Discretionary Trust.

Committee
A committee is granted the authority under the Patients Property Act to manage the affairs of an adult who is incapable of managing his or her own affairs. A committee can be the Public Guardian and Trustee, a private individual, or a trust company.

Disability assistance
An amount for shelter and support provided under the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act.
[see EAPWD Act, Section 1 for legal definition]

Discretionary trust
A trust in which the trustee has absolute authority over payments of capital and income from the trust.

Earned income
Any of the following:
- any money or value received in exchange for work or the provision of a service
- pension plan contributions that are refunded because of insufficient contributions to create a pension
- money or value received from providing room and board at a person’s place of residence
- money or value received from renting rooms that are common to and part of a person’s place of residence
[see EA Regulation, Section 1 or EAPWD Regulation, Section 1 for legal definition]

Income assistance
An amount for shelter and support provided under the Employment and Assistance Act.
[see EA Act, Section 1 for legal definition]

LLAB
Legislation, Litigation and Appeals Branch

Non-Discretionary Trust
A trust in which the trustee does not have absolute authority over payments of capital and income from the trust. The beneficiary may have some control, or the trustee may be required to make certain payments.

Patient
As defined by the Patients Property Act:
- a person who is described as one who is, because of mental infirmity arising from disease, age or otherwise, incapable of managing his or her affairs, in a certificate signed by the director of a Provincial mental health facility or psychiatric unit as defined in the Mental Health Act, or
- a person who is declared under the (Patients Property Act) by a judge to be:
- incapable of managing his or her affairs,
- incapable of managing himself or herself, or
- incapable of managing himself or herself or his or her affairs

Personal property
Property other than rights a person can have in relation to land. For example, movable objects such as cash, jewellery, and furniture are considered personal property.

Persons with Disabilities (PWD) designation
A designation provided to persons who have reached 18 years of age and have a severe mental (including a mental disorder) or physical impairment that meets all of the following criteria:
- in the opinion of a medical practitioner, the impairment is likely to continue for at least two years
- in the opinion of a prescribed professional, the impairment directly and significantly restricts the person’s ability to perform daily living activities either continuously or periodically for extended periods
- as a result of those restrictions, the person requires an assistive device, the significant help or supervision of another person, or the services of an assistance animal to perform daily living activities.
[see EAPWD Act, Section 2 for legal definition]

Public Guardian and Trustee
The Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia operates under provincial law to protect the legal rights and financial interests of children, to provide assistance to adults who need support for financial and personal decision making, and to administer the estates of deceased and missing persons where there is no one else able to do so.

Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)

Special care facility
- an adult community care facility licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living (CCAL) Act, including:
- a residential care facility
- an alcohol or drug residential treatment facility
- a community living services facility
- certain specialized adult residential care settings that are not licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living (CCAL) Act but approved by the Minister of Social Development, including:
- a family care home contracted by a health authority
- a community living residential resource contracted by Community Living British Columbia
- an alcohol or drug residential treatment facility contracted by a health authority
[see EA Regulation, Section 1 or EAPWD Regulation, Section 1 for legal definition]

Unearned income
Any income that is not earned income, and includes, without limitation, money or value received from any of the following:
- money, annuities, stocks, bonds, shares, and interest-bearing accounts or properties
- cooperative corporations as defined in the Real Estate Act
- war disability pensions, military pensions, and war veterans’ allowances
- insurance benefits, except insurance paid as compensation for a destroyed asset
- superannuation benefits
- any type or class of Canada Pension Plan benefits
- Employment Insurance
- union or lodge benefits
- financial assistance provided under the Employment and Assistance Act or the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act or provided by another province or jurisdiction
- workers’ compensation benefits and disability payments or pensions
- widows’ or orphans’ allowances
- a trust or inheritance
- rental of tools, vehicles, or equipment
- rental of land, self-contained suites, or other property except the place of residence of an applicant or recipient
- interest earned on a mortgage or agreement for sale
- maintenance under a court order, separation agreement, or other agreement
- education or training allowances, grants, loans, bursaries, or scholarships
- a lottery or a game of chance
- awards of compensation under the Criminal Injury Compensation Act or the Crime Victim Assistance Act, other than an award paid as compensation for a destroyed asset
- any other financial awards or compensation
- federal Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments
- financial contributions made by a sponsor pursuant to an undertaking given for the purposes of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) or the Immigration Act (Canada)
- tax refunds
[see EA Regulation, Section 1 or EAPWD Regulation, Section 1 for legal definition]



