Trusts

There are many kinds of trusts, and many are extremely complicated and expensive. There are basic Trust principles and some considerations in deciding whether you ought to prepare a Trust.

Generally, one of the most important parts of the trust provisions are the distribution provisions, that is, who gets what, and when. All types of distributions are possible, but it is important to make a crucial distinction here between a will and a trust.

What Happens if I have a Trust? If the trust is properly created and your property is properly transferred into the trust, the trust will continue after your death until such time as the trust terminates. This is usually provided for in the trust, and in very general terms, the trust usually specifies for its termination after the property in the trust is fully distributed.

Legally, a trust can be defined as a legal instrument that creates an entity, whose identity is legally separate from that of the creator. Usually a party who creates a trust, the Trustor, transfers title to some or all of his/her property, in trust, to another person, the Trustee, to be held for the benefit of either the Trustor or one or more third parties, known as beneficiaries.

Under most state laws, there are four elements which must be present to establish a trust:

The relationship created by the formation of the trust between all of the parties is a special relationship recognized by law as a fiduciary relationship. A fiduciary relationship requires that some of the parties may have duties to the others in the relationship that are greater than one would normally have in a transaction with a neighbor or friend or associate.

Revocable Living Trust: One of the most simple and popular trusts is the revocable living trust. The idea behind this type of trust is that you may wish to transfer your property to yourself, or to another highly qualified and trusted person, while you retain all of the rights of ownership during your lifetime.

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