Trusts

A trust is an estate planning document that manages the distribution of a persons estate. A trust is created when:

• The owner of the property or estate, called the grantor, transfers the property to a person or institution, called the trustee.
• The trustee holds legal title to the property in the trust and manages the property for the benefit of a third party called the beneficiary.

A trust can be either a testamentary trust or a living trust.

A testamentary trust is created in a will and transfers the testators property to the trust only after the death of the testator.

A living trust, sometimes called an inter vivos trust, is a revocable trust created during the life of the grantor and is designed to continue after the grantors death. In a living trust the grantor, trustee,and beneficiary can be the same person.