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As part of its efforts to bring together the community of trust and estate planners in Singapore and the region, as well as to share with the less fortunate in Society, STEP (Singapore) and STA will be organising their first charity gala dinner on 29 June 2011.
Enjoy a sumptuous 8-course sit-down Chinese dinner prepared by leading chefs at the Fairmont Singapore. Mingle with old friends and renew acquaintances. Enjoy the music and dance the night away.
We have designated the recently set up Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) as our appointed charity beneficiary of the evening, with nett proceeds raised from the dinner being donated to SNTC in support of its trust scheme targeted at encouraging parents/caregivers to save and provide for the financial security of their special needs dependants.
Meet Elaine Soh
 Elaine is born with Intellectual Disability. She is high functioning, therefore, able to manage her daily living activities independently and does not need to be supervised all the time. She is cheerful and friendly. Although she is quite high functioning and independent, she lacks the concept of financial management and planning and is vulnerable to manipulation. Her mom Irene is worried for Elaine’s future financial security as she is very gullible.
Irene’s husband passed away in 2010 after battling with cancer for many years. Irene was the sole breadwinner after her husband was incapacitated with cancer. She worked as a cashier for many years but had to retire in 2008 after a major surgery. Irene has stopped work after her surgery as she is still feeling weak. She only has $7,000 savings and she needs this to meet any future medical expenses for herself. Her late husband’s medical expenses had drained all their savings. Irene is very keen to set up a trust for Elaine because she knows that Elaine will not be able to manage her own finances. She does not wish to pass on the financial burden to her other daughter, who is carrying the burden of providing financial and caregiving needs to her son with autism. As Irene only has savings of $7000, she is looking for some donation to help her set up the trust for Elaine as the trust will serve as an infrastructure to receive the proceeds from the sale of her HDB flat.
READ MORE about Elaine and her family! |
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Meet Mdm Yip and her son Tat Hiang
 Mdm Yip is a single mother working 2 jobs as cleaner to support herself and her only son, Tat Hiang who has Down Syndrome. Her husband abandoned them when Tat Hiang was one year old because he did not want to undertake the financial and caregiving responsibility of bringing up his son who has special needs.
SNTC informed Mdm Yip that STEP and STA have adopted SNTC as their charity for their fund-raising dinner and that SNTC will use the donations to help parents like her to set up trusts for their special needs children.
Mdm Yip was moved to tears because she has been waiting since last year to set up a trust for Tat Hiang. She is looking forward to setting up the trust and making a will to name the trust to receive the proceeds of sale from her HDB flat and entrust SNTC to manage and administer the trust funds for Tat Hiang.
Mdm Yip told SNTC social worker “I am not afraid to die now because I can go with a peace of mind knowing that SNTC will administer the monies in the trust fund for the caregiving needs of my Tat Hiang”.
READ MORE about Tat Hiang and his family! |
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Nett proceeds from our dinner will go towards SNTC setting up trusts for beneficiaries such as Elaine and Tat Hiang.
So don't delay, book your table / seats at our dinner or become a sponsor today! |
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 The Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP), a unique professional body providing members with a local, national and international learning and business network focusing on the responsible stewardship of assets today and across the generations. STEP provides education, training, representation and networking for its members. Members advise clients on the broad business of the management of personal finance. Full members of STEP are the most experienced and senior practitioners in the field of trusts and estates. STEP has over 16,000 members spread throughout all of the world's major trust and estate jurisdictions. STEP Singapore was established on 29 January 1997 and has been successfully serving the need in education, training, representation and networking for its 430+ members, who are professionals specialising in trusts and estates, executorship, administration and related taxes, including senior bankers from private banks and senior legal practitioners.
 The Singapore Trustees Association (STA) represents the interests of trust companies in Singapore. In this role, the STA has given, and will continue to give, views and recommendations on proposed changes to existing legislation or rules which affect the Singapore trust industry. The STA also organises conferences, seminars and meetings to discuss issues which affect the trust industry in Singapore as a whole.
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The Special Needs Trust Company (“SNTC”) was set up in 2008 to provide trust management services to persons with special needs (with physical, developmental or mental disability) and are unable to manage their own affairs.
A registered charity and an Institution of Public Character, SNTC is supported by National Council of Social Service (“NCSS”) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (“MCYS”). SNTC partners with The Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (“Public Trustee”) to invest and manage the trust funds of these beneficiaries.
Parents and caregivers do not want to bequeath money directly to their special needs dependants because they lack the mental capacity to manage their finances. Most parents and caregivers are not able to find someone they can trust with monies they have saved for their special needs dependants. These parents and caregivers have explored private trust but the minimum sum required to set up a trust and the fees may be prohibitive to them. SNTC was commissioned to provide affordable trust services to meet the needs of these parents and caregivers to ensure the financial security of their special needs dependants.
These parents and caregivers are encouraged to meet with SNTC’s social workers to discuss the care giving and financial needs of their special needs dependants. SNTC’s social workers will draw up a care plan and draft a letter of intent to reflect the parents’ and caregivers’ instructions on the periodic disbursement of the trust fund to meet the needs of their special needs dependants. The funds will only be disbursed upon the demise or incapacity of the parents and caregivers. In disbursing the trust funds, SNTC will consider the settlor’s wishes set out in the letter of intent but SNTC’s overriding concern is always to act in the best interests of these beneficiaries.
The settlors can set up a trust account with a minimum sum of $5,000, top-up their trust accounts anytime or inject future assets to the trust via their wills, or nomination of their insurance policies and/or monies in their Central Provident Fund accounts. All SNTC trusts are irrevocable to ensure that settlors have completely divested themselves of their interest in the moneys, which prevents revocation of the trust in the event of insolvency or divorce. In addition, a residual beneficiary (who may be changed) must be specified in case the beneficiary predeceases the settlor and also to receive any balance in the trust fund on the demise of the beneficiary. |
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| With special thanks to our sponsors: |
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| Exclusive Diamond Sponsor: |
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You can participate in the following ways:
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Please DOWNLOAD AND COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION / BOOKING FORM to book your seat(s) / table(s) for the dinner,
be a sponsor or make a direct donation to the designated charity. |
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For further enquiries, please contact the STEP (Singapore) Secretariat
Tel. & Fax: (65) 31287781 (no 6 prefix) | E-mail: secretariat@step.org.sg | Website: www.step.org.sg/2011dinner |
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