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Most trust funds that were established to shelter funds from the need analysis process do not work. For example, some families set up a trust fund for their children that restricts access to the principal until the children are past their college years. Unfortunately, this backfires, since the trust fund gets treated as an asset even though the children don't have access to the funds. The major exception is involuntary trust funds set up by a court, such as a court-ordered trust fund to cover future medical expenses.

The design of a trust can make it difficult (but not impossible) to calculate its value as an asset. Basically, one has to identify the current value of all the child's expected future payments of interest and principal from the trust. If all of the principal and interest earned by the trust is eventually granted to the child, and the interest rate is the same as the inflation rate, the calculation is simple: it is the current value of the trust's principal. But if the trust gives the student only the principal several years from now, or gives the student only interest payments but never the principal, or the interest rate is not the same as the inflation rate, the current value of the trust depends on a net present value calculation.