Practical Observations and Insights on the Promotion and Popularization of Special Needs Trusts: A Case Study of Tongzhou District, Beijing | Wealth and Asset Management

Text / Specially Appointed Experts of Tongzhou District Government, Distinguished Professor at Capital University of Economics and Business School of Finance, Part-time Graduate Supervisor at Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, Lin Wei; Deputy Director of Tongzhou District Civil Affairs Bureau, Li Peng; Vice Chairman of Tongzhou District Disabled Persons’ Federation, Li Hongquan

Special needs trusts are innovative financial tools that serve public welfare and address the challenges of an aging population. This article examines a series of practices in Beijing’s Tongzhou District, analyzing two landmark cases: the first is the nation’s first residential real estate trust property registration (“Tongzhou Case-1”), and the second is a comprehensive elderly care plan combining “special needs trust + legal guardianship” for a solo senior (“Tongzhou Case-2”). Additionally, it explores the extended “Special Needs Trusts Entering Communities” initiative (“Tongzhou Action”), systematically outlining the practice path and internal logic from isolated cases to a systemic promotion.

Research shows that Tongzhou effectively responded to social issues such as “elderly care for disabled children” and “lonely elderly care” through “resource integration under government guidance, development of standardized tools, and innovation in social support mechanisms,” providing a reference model for the trust industry to return to its service roots and for financial resources to sink into communities. Its exploration reveals a development model of inclusive finance that activates the market through institutional breakthroughs and supports sustainable services through ecological construction.

Introduction: Practice Driven by Social Pain Points

Sudden illness in a solitary elderly person without signatures, difficulty in estate disposal after death; families worried about lifelong care for disabled children… These increasingly prominent social issues driven by aging demand urgent innovation in financial and legal services. Due to its independent property and long-term planning functions, special needs trusts are seen as potential solutions to these problems, but their popularization faces obstacles such as property registration difficulties, service chain fragmentation, and public awareness gaps.

Against this background, leveraging the favorable conditions supported by the State Council for trust property registration mechanisms in Beijing, the Beijing Urban Sub-Center (Tongzhou District) has undertaken a series of explorations. This article focuses on two key milestones: the first is the nationwide first residential real estate trust property registration completed in April 2025 (“Tongzhou Case-1”), and the second is the comprehensive elderly care plan combining “special needs trust + legal guardianship” completed in January 2026 (“Tongzhou Case-2”). The former precisely addresses the property inheritance and care needs of families caring for disabled children, while the latter provides a full-cycle legal and financial solution for solo elderly individuals. These cases are not isolated achievements but form an integral part of the “Tongzhou Action”—a systematic effort to promote special needs trusts into communities and build a service ecosystem. “Tongzhou Case-1” marks the starting point and breakthrough of the initiative, while “Tongzhou Case-2” represents a significant deepening phase. From point to surface, these practices offer a complete and vivid example of how inclusive financial innovation transitions from concept to implementation and from individual cases to an ecological system.

Two “Tongzhou Cases”: Case Descriptions, Social Impact, and Innovation Breakthroughs

“Tongzhou Case-1”: The Nation’s First Residential Real Estate Trust Property Registration Practice

The core of “Tongzhou Case-1” is a special needs trust. The settlor is Ms. Tian, a 70-year-old resident of Tongzhou District, and the beneficiary is her 40-year-old son with autism. The trust property is a residence in Tongzhou District owned by Ms. Tian, which was successfully registered as trust property on April 2, 2025, at the Beijing Tongzhou Real Estate Registration Center. The trust aims to ensure that after Ms. Tian’s passing, the property can continuously and stably provide housing for her son, who lacks full self-care ability, and can be liquidated if necessary to cover lifelong care expenses. The trust is managed by Guotou Taikang Trust Co., Ltd., with Beijing Daoke Te Law Firm acting as supervisor, and the settlor’s close relatives designated as instructions parties authorized to issue property use instructions under specific conditions.

As a pioneering exploration, this case has far-reaching social impacts. First, in caring for disabled persons, it serves typical “elderly caring for disabled children” families, demonstrating the key role of special needs trusts in ensuring lifelong care for disabled children. Second, in elderly services, it addresses issues relevant to two generations’ elderly care, and the high similarity with the situation of many independent, incapacitated, or demented elderly people in society, confirming the significant application value of special needs trusts in eldercare. In December 2025, the “Real Estate Trust Property Registration Pilot” was awarded the “2025 CCTV Finance & Economy—Financial Power Nation Annual Case” in the Elderly Finance category, selected jointly by CCTV, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The “Tongzhou Case” was featured in a dedicated CCTV program, reflecting high regulatory recognition of its eldercare value. Third, in inclusive finance innovation, the ability to use real estate as trust property marks a historic shift from trust services primarily targeting high-net-worth individuals (“private banking”) to serving ordinary middle-income families (“inclusive finance”).

The main innovations of this case include two breakthroughs: first, property registration innovation that achieves risk isolation. By explicitly marking “trust property” and assigning a dedicated code on the property certificate, it legally establishes the independence of trust property from the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary, truly realizing core trust functions like bankruptcy isolation. Second, process optimization that significantly reduces setup barriers and costs. The innovative approach of “direct transfer of property rights to the trust” replaces the previous complex process of “cash into trust, trust purchasing property,” saving high bridge loan interest and compressing property transfer time from potentially a month to within two hours, greatly improving efficiency and reducing costs.

“Tongzhou Case-2”: An Integrated Elderly Care Plan Combining “Special Needs Trust + Legal Guardianship” for Solo Elderly

“Tongzhou Case-2” completed all legal documents for the special needs trust and legal guardianship on January 13, 2026. The trust settlor and beneficiary are both Ms. Qin, a 72-year-old retired doctor living alone (pseudonym). The plan aims to address her lack of children, providing a complete legal and financial support system for critical stages such as emergency medical treatment, long-term care for disabilities, and posthumous affairs.

The core structure consists of two parts: a special needs trust and a legal guardianship agreement, clearly defining responsibilities among three key roles. First, the trustee (managing money): China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation manages the trust assets professionally and makes payments. Second, the guardian (managing affairs): Beijing Luwei Silver Age Research and Service Center handles medical decisions, selection of eldercare institutions, and daily care supervision. Third, the supervisor (managing risks): Ms. Qin’s cousin, acting as trust supervisor and guardian monitor, independently oversees the trustee and guardian.

This case’s social significance lies in systematically addressing the common societal anxiety of solo elderly care and providing a practical solution. In late 2025, Ms. Jiang, a 46-year-old single woman in Shanghai, died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage. Her medical treatment signatures and posthumous inheritance issues, exposed by media reports, sparked widespread societal concern about the risks faced by unaccompanied, childless elderly. This case is a systemic response to the social problems revealed by Ms. Jiang’s incident, offering a highly valuable real-world model for how large populations of unaccompanied, childless seniors can achieve “aging with support and security.”

The core innovation of this case is the creation of a full-cycle, risk-resistant, and power-balanced safeguard system, reflected in three aspects: first, establishing a seamless “trust + guardianship” balance model. It deeply integrates the property management function of special needs trusts with the personal decision-making of legal guardianship, forming a “trust managing money, guardians managing affairs, supervision managing risks” tripartite structure. Property management and personal decisions are both separated and coordinated, preventing the moral hazard of excessive power concentration. Second, solving the legal procedural “gap” risk. Since legal guardianship requires court declaration, which cannot respond to emergencies, an innovative “proxy authorization” is introduced—elderly sign a power of attorney while conscious, authorizing guardianship agencies to act immediately in emergencies, achieving seamless legal and demand response. Third, establishing an emergency fund tiered payment mechanism: an independent “medical deposit” account (managed by the guardian and with password held by the supervisor) ensures rapid payment during emergencies. After use, the main trust fund automatically replenishes, forming a “small emergency deposit, large expenditure trust” tiered safeguard system, solving urgent payment issues.

Practice Path: Systematic Promotion of “Tongzhou Action”

Building on breakthroughs in individual cases, to transform innovation into sustainable, replicable public service capacity, Tongzhou District has since July 2025, leveraging the district’s “Two Zones” financial innovation working group, systematically launched the “Special Needs Trusts Entering Communities” initiative (“Tongzhou Action”). The core path of this initiative includes four aspects:

Accurate Needs Anchoring, Multi-resource Integration

Precise demand targeting. Based on demographic data of the elderly and disabled populations, the initiative accurately identifies high-demand groups such as “elderly caring for disabled children” and “lonely, incapacitated seniors.” Through continuous community outreach in 12 streets and towns, 27 activities have been held, serving nearly a thousand residents directly, and over 40 demand clues have been identified, achieving precise service-demand matching…

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Source | “Tsinghua Financial Review” March 2026, Issue 148

Editor | Wang Mao

Review | Qin Ting

Chief Editor | Lan Yanfan