In Dubuque, Iowa, a trust is an arrangement in which property is held by one individual (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary).
You might want to set up a trust for a wide number of reasons. It can be set up to guarantee that a child will have money for college, for instance, and that the child will only be able to use the money for that purpose.
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 instance, you might want to dictate that the beneficiary can only use the money for emergencies, or for general living expenses. If the trust is thoroughly 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, particularly if the beneficiary is a teenager or young adult.
What to Include in Any Dubuque, IA Trust
There are 4 distinct elements that must be present for any trust to be legitimate in Dubuque, Iowa. The first element is the purpose - in drafting a trust document, the purpose that the trust is serving must be stated.
Second, every trust, to be valid, has to assign a trustee. This is the individual or other entity (such as a corporation) who oversees the property that embodies the trust. They possess and control the property, and are accountable for seeing that it is utilized according to the purpose of the trust.
The third required element to make a valid trust is the beneficiary or beneficiaries. Because a trust, by definition, is set up to benefit someone or something, that entity must be identified in the trust. Nonetheless, if the person(s) meant to benefit from the trust do not yet exist, they can still be legitimate beneficiaries, as long as they are part of an identifiable class of people, and can be easily identified if they are born. For instance, you could set up a trust to benefit your grandchildren, even if you don't really have any grandchildren yet.
Fourth and finally, there must be some money or property which is really going to be held in the trust. This property is referred to as the "corpus" (body) of the trust, and can be just about anything. But, it must really exist, and it must be identified.
Can A Dubuque, Iowa Trust Drafting Attorney Help?
While it's not difficult to understand the basic requirements of a trust, actually creating a trust can be a bit more intricate. Therefore, it is advisable to contact a seasoned Dubuque, Iowa attorney to help you set up a trust.
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