F.A.Q

What is a Trust?

A Trust is a legal vehicle used to transfer assets, allowing a third party (a Trustee) to hold and direct assets owned by one party (Grantor) in a trust fund on behalf of another party (Beneficiary).
A Trust avoids probate court and allows sole control over your assets—not only presently, but for generations to come.
This provides far greater flexibility than a will.
A Trust requires the following:

  1. Grantor/Settlor – the person creating the trust.
  2. Trustee – the person or entity that administers the trust.
  3. Trust Property – generally cash, real estate, and/or investments.

What are the benefits of a Trust?

A Trust’s primary benefit is to avoid probate upon the grantor’s death. A Probate is a costly, timely and public process undertaken when someone with assets in their sole name passes away.

Trusts are an ideal way to have assets professionally managed over generations, distributed according to the grantor’s intentions.

A Trust is utilized to:
Reduce Taxes. Protect Assets (from creditors). Carry out charitable requests. Remove Assets from an estate. Provide income for beneficiaries (across multiple generations). 
A Trusts helps to ensure privacy and confidentiality, which is lacking in public probate.

How do I setup a Trust?

A legally binding trust document is created with an estate planning attorney. Once the Trust is officially set up and executed by all parties, a bank account in the name of the Trust. This accommodates transfer of any monies into that account for funding.
The money is then invested according to the asset allocation (balanced, conservative, aggressive, etc.) to which the client has agreed.

Who owns the Trust property?

Unlike a company/a person, a Trust is not a legal entity therefore is not allowed property ownership. It is considered to be a mere a relationship between the legal owner (the Trustee) and the beneficial owners (the Beneficiaries).

As such, documents such as a House Title, Share Certificate, and a Members’ Register will list the Trustee as the Property Owner.