§ 36D-1. Title; findings.
Chapter 36D.
North Carolina Community Trustfor Persons with Severe Chronic Disabilities.
§ 36D‑1. Title;findings.
(a) This Article shallbe known and may be cited as the "North Carolina Community Trust forPersons With Severe Chronic Disabilities Act".
(b) The GeneralAssembly finds that it is in the public interest to encourage activities byvoluntary associations and private citizens that will supplement and augmentthose services provided by local, State, and federal government agencies indischarge of their responsibilities toward individuals with severe chronicdisabilities. The General Assembly further finds that, as a result of changingsocial, economic, and demographic trends, families of persons with severechronic disabilities are increasingly aware of the need for a vehicle by whichthey can assure ongoing individualized personal concern for a severely disabledfamily member who may survive that disabled person's parents or other familymembers, and provide for the efficient management of small legacies or trustfunds to be used for the benefit of that disabled person. In a number of otherstates, voluntary associations have established foundations or trusts intendedto be responsive to these concerns. Therefore, the General Assembly finds thatNorth Carolina will benefit by the enactment of enabling legislation expresslyauthorizing the formation of community trusts in accordance with criteria setforth by statute and administered by the Secretary of State, under Chapter 55Aof the General Statutes. These community trusts permit the pooling of resourcescontributed by families or persons with philanthropic intent, along with thereservation of portions of these funds for the use and benefit of designatedbeneficiaries.
(c) This Article shallbe liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes andpolicies, which are, among others, to:
(1) Encourage theorderly establishment of community trusts for the benefit of persons withsevere chronic disabilities;
(2) Ensure thatcommunity trusts are administered properly and that the managing boards of thetrusts are free from conflicts of interest;
(3) Facilitate soundadministration of trust funds for persons with severe chronic disabilities byallowing family members and others to pool resources in order to makeprofessional management investment more efficient;
(4) Provide parents ofpersons with severe chronic disabilities peace of mind in knowing that a meansexists to ensure that the interests of their children who have severe chronic disabilitiesare properly looked after and managed after the parents die or becomeincapacitated;
(5) Help make guardiansavailable for persons with severe chronic disabilities who are incompetent,when no other family member is available for this purpose;
(6) Encourage theavailability of private resources to purchase for persons with severe chronicdisabilities goods and services that are not available through any governmentalor charitable program and to conserve these resources by limiting purchases to thosethat are not available from other sources;
(7) Encourage theinclusion, as beneficiaries of community trusts, of persons who lack resourcesand whose families are indigent, in a way that does not diminish the resourcesavailable to other beneficiaries whose families have contributed to the trust;and
(8) Remove thedisincentives that discourage parents and others from setting aside funds forthe future protection of persons with severe chronic disabilities by ensuringthat the interest of beneficiaries in community trusts are not consideredassets or income that would disqualify them from any governmental or charitableentitlement program with an economic means test. (1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c.768, s. 1; 2005‑192, s. 3.)