If the house is kept in the names of the trustees, it will depend on whether the terms of the trust allow them to let him live there or rent it to him, rather than hold it on such terms that he is absolutely entitled to ahve it put in his name if he so wishes (this is a bare trust). A properly drafted trust deed may well contain a power for the trustees to invest in land including buying a house and allowig the beneficiary to live there and if so on what terms. If they do this it remains trust property.
Virtually all trust deeds contain a power to invest in land, and since an investemnt means income, they must normally cahrge rent. However, if he is entitled to the income from the trust this all gets a bit circular since in effect he would be paying the rent to himself..I don't like to thik about it, it makes my head hurt. You need a good trusts lawyer to interpret what the trustees can do, and a good social security lawyer to work out what the social security impact is. I must say that unless it is a discretionary trust, and there are other people who could be entiteld to the income from the trust, it would be unusual to be able to charge the beenficiary rent - he lives there in lieu of getting income. And I would find it hard to see that the relationship between trustees and theri beneficiary was an arms'-length commercial one.
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