In El Centro, California, a trust is an arrangement in which property is held by one person (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary).

Trusts can serve any number of purposes. They can be set up to ensure that the child has a college fund, or to see that the beneficiary's basic needs are met, without the money being spent on frivolities.

If you want to set up a trust, you can make the beneficiary's use of the property as restricted or as permissive as you like. As a simple example, you might want to dictate that the beneficiary can only use the money for emergencies, or for basic living expenses. If the trust is carefully drafted, this is completely feasible.

The trust can also be set up to authorize the beneficiary to spend as much of the money in it on anything they like. Of course, few people do this, because the trust isn't likely to last very long under such an arrangement, especially if the beneficiary is a teenager or young adult.

What to Include in Any El Centro, CA Trust

To create a trust in El Centro, California, 4 things are required. The first is purpose - the trust must be set up to serve some kind of objective, and it must be clearly stated in the document that creates the trust.

Second, the trust must also name a trustee. The trustee is the person who is really going to administer the trust, and has possession and control of the property while it is the subject of the trust.

The third element is a beneficiary. The beneficiary is a person or entity who the trust is constructed to benefit. Although a beneficiary has to be named, they don't really have to exist at the time the trust is written. For instance, if a person sets up a trust to benefit his or her grandchildren, and doesn't yet have any, the trust is valid. If and when their grandchildren are born, the rights that the trust creates will vest in them immediately.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the trust requires a "body." The body of a trust is the thing (normally, but not always, money) that is really being held in trust, and therefore overseen by the trustee, and used to help the beneficiary.

Can A El Centro, California Trust Drafting Attorney Help?

While the elements of a valid trust are relatively simple and easy to remember, drafting a trust that is sure to be carried out according to the wishes of the person making it can still be complex. For that reason, a good El Centro, California attorney specializing in estate planning and the drafting trusts may prove invaluable.