Expected to be in place later this year, it will allow parents with disabled children to set aside some money with the Public Trustee's Office to sink into low-risk investments.

When they die, a company whose board will be appointed by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) will disburse the funds to their children according to their wishes.

An NCSS spokesman told The Straits Times that former university vice-chancellor Lim Pin will head the company's board.

The rich can afford to set up trusts with private companies that manage, invest and grow the funds and make regular payouts to beneficiaries. But these typically require large investments.

The new trust scheme will provide similar benefits to middle- and lower-income families, at much lower costs. Details are still being worked out.

Lawyer Conrad Campos, who will serve on the trust company board, said the scheme is expected to work like this:

Parents will set aside a minimum sum, possibly $5,000, to open an individual trust account for their child.

Those who can afford it will be encouraged to put in more, or top up the accounts regularly, with tax deductions as a possible incentive.

They will also be able to bequeath property and insurance policies to the trust company. When they die, insurance payouts and proceeds from the sale of property can be used to boost the trust.

'We are drawing up a framework to help families provide better for their disabled loved ones,' said Mr Campos. 'But ultimately, the size of the payouts will depend on how much the family puts into the trust.'

The trust company is also likely to set up an endowment fund to help beneficiaries whose accounts may gradually dry up.

Parents will have to sign a legal agreement naming a guardian and stating when payments should start and how the money should be spent.

The company will also help the family draw up a plan on other aspects of caring for the disabled, such as preferred living arrangements.

NCSS president Kwek Siew Jin said the scheme's biggest benefit is its affordability.

The intellectually disabled - who are incapable of handling money matters - will be targeted first, and he expects 1,000 beneficiaries over five years.

The idea was first floated by Mr Campos and his colleagues from the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, which began working on it in 2004.

It received the thumbs up from a government-appointed workgroup looking into how to improve the future financial security of the disabled.

MP Denise Phua, who headed the workgroup, said she hoped that eventually, the endowment fund will help to care for the disabled from really poor families.

'It would be good if philanthropists could donate to the trust fund to help ensure this,' she said.

The Government's backing for the scheme is a comfort for shipping company executive Mimi Tan, 57, who has a 16-year-old intellectually disabled son.

'We know the money will be in safe hands,' she said.

Her 29-year-old older son will be appointed his brother's guardian.

'The trust company will take a load off his shoulders, especially since he will have his own family to look after as well,' she said.

radhab@sph.com.sg