Establishing a Bank or Other Financial Account as the QIT Account

In addition to a completed, signed and dated trust instrument that meets the HHSC determined QIT requirements, a trust account must be set up. A trust account is a bank account or an account at another financial institution such as a credit union used to deposit the income from the sources listed in the QIT instrument. As noted above, the QIT account must only have income and cannot contain resources. The bank account must only be used to deposit the income from the sources listed in the QIT instrument.

A person may use an existing account only if the specified QIT income is deposited into the account. A new account may be necessary if the existing account includes money from sources other than the QIT income. A new account is also necessary if the existing account is a joint account and other account holders make deposits and withdrawals from the account using the joint account holders' income and resources. If a joint account holder is on the account for convenience and does not use the account for their personal use, the account may be used for the QIT.

Some banks may require small deposits, such as $10 to $20, to open a new account. HHSC allows a small amount of the beneficiary's money or money from another person for this initial deposit. The money that a bank requires as a deposit to open a new account is not counted as a resource or income to the beneficiary.

After the trust account is opened, only the beneficiary's income may be directed to the trust account. If sources of income other than those identified in the QIT instrument are deposited into the QIT account, but the entire source is deposited and the countable income remains within the special income limit, eligibility is not affected. Any deposits made to the QIT account from the person’s resources will result in the QIT account becoming a countable resource. Any deposits to the QIT account from another person may be countable income. This may result in all deposits to the account being countable income and the bank account becoming a countable resource.