Can one Henson trust be set up for more than one disabled beneficiary, or does each need a separate trust?

It's possible to draft a single trust document that provides for more than one disabled beneficiary, but in practice many estate planning lawyers recommend separate trusts, or at least clearly separated sub-trusts within one document, for each beneficiary, rather than pooling everyone's interests together. Keeping the trusts separate makes it easier for the trustee to exercise genuine, individualized discretion for each person's specific needs, without one beneficiary's circumstances affecting what's available for another, and it can also simplify how each beneficiary's own ODSP file is assessed, since each trust clearly relates to only one person.

A combined trust isn't necessarily invalid, but it can create more complexity, for example if the beneficiaries have different needs, different eligibility timelines, or if one beneficiary's portion needs to be dealt with differently after their death while the trust is still meant to serve the others. Family dynamics can also become a factor if beneficiaries, or their advocates, have differing views on how a shared pool of trust property should be used.

If you have more than one family member who may need this kind of protection, discuss with a lawyer whether separate trusts or a carefully structured single trust with distinct shares better fits your family's situation.