Trust Investment

A trust is a right in property, which is held in a fiduciary relationship by one party for the benefit of another. The trustee holds title to the trust property, and the beneficiary receives the benefits of the trust. A trust can be created during a person’s lifetime and survive the person’s death or by a will and formed after death. The assets held or inputted into the trust, belong to the trust itself, not the trustee, and are subjected to the rules and instructions of the trust contract. 2 major types of trust are:

• Revocable Trusts: Created during the lifetime of the trust maker and can be altered, changed, modified or revoked entirely. Often called a living trust, these are trusts in which the trust maker transfers the title of a property to a trust, serves as the initial trustee, and has the ability to remove the property from the trust during his or her lifetime. Although useful to avoid probate, a revocable trust is not an asset protection technique as assets transferred to the trust during the trustmaker’s lifetime will remain available to the trustmaker’s creditors. It does make it more somewhat more difficult for creditors to access these assets since the creditor must petition a court for an order to enable the creditor to get to the assets held in the trust.
• Irrevocable Trust: An irrevocable trust is one which cannot be altered, changed, modified or revoked after its creation. Once a property is transferred to an irrevocable trust, no one, including the trust maker, can take the property out of the trust.

Some other forms of trusts are:

• Charitable Trust: Charitable trusts are trusts which benefit a particular charity or the public in general. A charitable remainder trust (CRT) funded during the grantor’s lifetime can be a financial planning tool, providing the trust maker with valuable lifetime benefits.
• Constructive Trust: A constructive trust is an implied trust. An implied trust is established by a court and is determined from certain facts and circumstances.
• Religious Trust: These trusts are established for religious purposes and for the benefit of people having faith in such religious activities
• Children Beneficiary Trusts: As the name suggests, these trusts are for the benefit of the child of the trust maker and is in place till the purpose of the trust, i.e. the benefit of anf for the child holds.